GENERATION RENT campaigns for professionally managed, secure, decent and affordable private rented homes in sustainable communities.
Join us today and help campaign for a better deal for private renters.
GENERATION RENT campaigns for professionally managed, secure, decent and affordable private rented homes in sustainable communities.
Join us today and help campaign for a better deal for private renters.
Despite repeated cries by the Chancellor that “your hard work has paid off”, the Autumn Budget was underwhelming in its efforts to address the housing crisis. In brief, nothing new for renters, a mixed bag for landlords, and support for first-time buyers moving into shared ownership. Several extra pots of cash for housebuilding but well short of what’s needed and nothing radical in terms of reforming the land market to funnel the proceeds of development to local communities and build more council homes.
Read moreToday we publish new research looking at the relationship between the size of the private rental market and rents, in light of the credit crunch, landlord tax changes, and proposals for tenancy reform.
We demonstrate that:
Right to Buy was electoral gold dust to the Conservatives back in the 1980s, but since council homes were sold off unreplaced, and the social housing sector dwindled, it has lost its lustre. With housing policy the key to winning over today’s 18 to, er, 45 year olds, it’s no wonder some in the party have taken up alchemy.
Onward, a think tank peopled by former government advisers, thinks it has the answer, which is about as close to Right to Buy for private tenants as we’re likely to get. Because the property is not the state’s to sell, it’s merely Chance to Buy.
Read moreThis week has been the Conservative Party's conference, and their chance to match Labour's pledges to abolish Section 21 and seed-fund renters' unions.
There is a lot of worry among the party faithful that they are not doing enough about housing - the defining political issue of a generation. But with consultation responses on security being scrutinised by officials back in Whitehall, and Help to Buy facing negative attention, their options were narrow.
Read moreAt the Labour party conference this week, delegates adopted a motion to (among other things) "Help private renters with an end to ‘no fault’ evictions, controls on rents and new minimum standards, including three year tenancies as standard."
The BBC reported on this commitment, but beyond the wording of this motion and John Healey's speech, we haven't had any more detail of what this would entail.
Luckily, Sadiq Khan has obliged. While the Mayor of London is not a member of the Shadow Cabinet, last week's publication of his response to the government's consultation on longer tenancies revealed that he is calling for much the same thing, plus some more idea of what it might look like in practice.
Read moreWe kind of knew this already, but Labour is officially backing our campaign to end Section 21 and will scrap landlords' ability to evict tenants without giving a reason. It was reported by the BBC this morning, was part of the shadow Housing Secretary John Healey's speech in the conference centre, and then a motion on housing that included it was passed.
This follows members of the End Unfair Evictions doing a lot of work behind the scenes to successfully get local Labour parties to support the motion.
An even bigger piece of news was a £20m pot to jumpstart tenants' unions in the UK, reported by the Independent.
Read moreFinding a flat to rent in England can be tough. The stress only compounds when things don’t go as planned. When I lived in London, I got caught out when my landlord insisted on “renegotiating” the tenancy terms after I had paid a holding deposit (a troublingly common practice in the market).
Here are twelve things tenants can do to protect their rights, which helped me succeed in my legal claim against my landlord.
Read moreOn Wednesday, the Sun reported that 10 Downing Street and the Treasury are blocking moves to legislate for longer tenancies.
Although the recently closed consultation left open the question of making the new tenancy mandatory or voluntary, the same newspaper had previously reported that the Housing Secretary, James Brokenshire, wanted all tenants to get it.
That sets up a big internal government battle over tenants' rights as the Conservative Party worries more and more about winning over younger voters.
Read moreAs the consultation period on the government's proposals for longer tenancies draws to a close - the deadline to respond is this Sunday - we are handing in our End Unfair Evictions petition to the Ministry of Housing today. It passed 50,000 signatures on Tuesday, helped along by #VentYourRent.
And if that wasn't enough to make the government pay attention, new polling from Survation finds that our demands have the backing of the wider public, including Conservative voters.
Section 21 is the leading cause of statutory homelessness. This law allows evictions with no reason needed, and this is one more reason why we should scrap it.
To some extent, this is stating the bleeding obvious. Since 2012, the end of a private tenancy has been the leading cause of homelessness cases accepted by local authorities, but until now no one has specifically pointed the finger at Section 21. Today, we've been able to demonstrate it.
Source: Ministry of Housing
Read more
Three in ten privately rented homes are considered “non-decent” and one in six are physically unsafe.
A tenant can be removed quickly,how quick?
It can take several months,then there’s the additional cost for repairs.it costs thousands.
For every bad landlord there are 5 bad tenants.
All I’m asking is for fairness and incentives for good landlords and tenants.
A register or all
If this means longer tenancies and rent controls,that’s fine by me,
But:
Section 24 is making thiings worse,rent rises and evictions will continue.
The policy will really kick in by 2020/21,then the s,,,t will hit the fan.
If ever there were an incentive for the landlord ,remove it.
But I doubt they will,so all will run for the hills.
Over to the councils to rehouse.
Good luck
I don’t follow where you are getting from my comment that I am saying 1 is a greater number than 5.
But you’re missing the point, it’s not about how fantastic some landlords are, or about how terrible some tenants are, or whether good landlords are something that is needed. I’m just trying to point out that in the landlord-tenant relationship, tenants currently seem to have most to lose and least protection. The fact that some landlords aren’t good landlords is good justification to increase those protections.
From the landlord’s perspective, a bad tenant, who doesn’t pay rent and who damages the property can be evicted quite quickly. Insurance pays for the repairs, and I’ve seen many letting agents even advertise that they will cover the rent if the tenants disappear. The landlord may still have out of pocket costs for some things and see their premiums rise but at the end of the day all it is is a bit of a headache and a lost opportunity for some extra income.
From the tenant’s perspective, a bad landlord can evict them with two month’s notice at any time for no reason at all. Two months may seem like a lot of notice but you try continuing without impacting on work/studies/looking after your family when you’ve suddenly got two months to find somewhere else to live and move. There’s no guarantee you can find somewhere within budget within reasonable commuting distance from work or from your kid’s school so you may have to find a new job or move your kid to a different school. Then there are the costs associated with moving, you have to fork out for letting agents fees yet again, pay another deposit, pay a removal company, have mail redirected etc.
This is all if a landlord is a bit on the cruel side but still stays within the law, however tenants can be put under pressure by a bad landlord to do things the law doesn’t require of them, such as to move out even sooner than the two month notice period. I’ve known of landlords threatening to withhold the deposit (a spurious reason to withhold it can always be found) or to give a bad reference, making it difficult for the tenant to find somewhere else to live, and thus forcing the tenant to do as they wish.
None of this necessarily applies to you, but as things stand it’s very much luck of draw as to what kind of landlord you get and it isn’t unreasonable to ask the government to do more to ensure tenants have adequate protection, but you seem to be taking that desire as an affront to your own honour, like the fact you are a good landlord should mean you don’t require governmental oversight.
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