London’s renters are not getting enough protection from their council
With the votes counted in last week’s London borough elections we now have some new council leaders. One of their responsibilities is to make sure local private renters are living in safe homes. But judging by the 32 councils’ record in 2016-17, they have a lot of work to do.
London Boroughs took action against just 1 percent of the capital’s worst landlords in 2016-17. That’s just one of the findings that we’ve uncovered in new analysis of Freedom of Information data – the basis of a new league table of council performance.
Cross-party groups give their verdicts on renting
This week we’ve had two reports from the political mainstream calling for a better deal for renters. They add to the pressure we’ve been putting on the government to improve tenant security – and though we contributed to both, they don’t quite go as far as we’d like.
The first was from the Resolution Foundation, a think tank chaired by Conservative peer David Willetts and run by Torsten Bell, previously adviser to former Labour leader Ed Miliband.
Government launches secret landlord blacklist
Landlords get to ask tenants for a reference, but there’s no way we can check what a prospective landlord is like. That’s why we’ve long been calling for a central database that names and shames criminal landlords.
From today we’ve got one. But there’s a catch: only local councils can access it.
Fees ban concerns remain as Bill completes first stage
The Commons Housing Committee has published its report on the Draft Tenants’ Fees Bill today, making recommendations to the government for when it formally introduces the Bill to Parliament.
Generation Rent, along with charities, landlord groups, local councils and other industry organisations, gave evidence to the inquiry earlier in the year. There were positive outcomes on rents and deposits, but more work is needed to make sure the ban covers all fees – and that it’s enforced properly.
Here’s a summary of what we asked for – and what we got.
Planned shake-up of rental market complaints system
Last October, Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Communities (and now Housing) said that he wanted to start requiring landlords to join a redress scheme if they did not already use a letting agent.
The government is now consulting on plans for this. The good news is it is considering doing away with the three different schemes tenants have to navigate when they have a complaint at the moment.
Rented London: How local authorities can support private renters
Local council elections are taking place in London in a few months. And just like the 2016 Mayoral race, these contests will be dominated by the city’s housing crisis. From Haringey to Kensington and Chelsea, Londoners are looking for secure and affordable homes, and asking their councils to respond.
First-time buyers taking out longer loans to escape the rental sector
The latest English Housing Survey report is out today with the highlights of their findings for 2016-17.
The private rented sector has continued to grow. The population now stands at 4.7m households, with 27% of families renting from a private landlord.
It is once again the largest tenure in London (if you separate outright and mortgaged ownership), and its doubling outside the capital in the past decade illustrates the national impact the housing crisis has had.
Homes fit for humans one step closer
Third time was the charm for efforts to revive the right of renters to sue their landlord for safety failures.
Karen Buck’s Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill was talked out in 2015, then a Labour amendment to the Housing Bill in 2016 was defeated. But today, after winning the support of more than 100 MPs who attended the Second Reading debate, the Bill passed unanimously and is a step closer to being law.
Fitness for Human Habitation: Another milestone in the long road to a decent private rented sector
In another sign of the growing importance of the renters’ movement in the UK, government announced over the weekend that it would be supporting measured outlined in Karen Buck MP’s upcoming private member’s bill, which would allow private and social tenants to take legal action against their landlord where their home is not deemed ‘fit for human habitation’.
Samir Jeraj
Samir Jeraj joined the board in July 2017. He is Policy & Practice Officer at Race Equality Foundation. He is also a freelance journalist and co-authored the 2016 book, The Rent Trap.