industry news
Millennials most likely to fall victim to rogue landlords, research finds
commitments even when they are part of tenancy agreements. As increasing numbers of 25-34 year olds rely
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on privately rented homes for their accommodation, Open Property Group decided to find out what members of ‘Generation Rent’ thought about their landlords and the current housing market. Their research found:
• 50 per cent of people admitted to living in unsatisfactory living conditions in rented properties;
• 54 per cent of 25-34 year olds have had their rented properties sold by landlords without notice;
• Nearly all (90 per cent) of ‘millennials’ surveyed felt conned by misleading photos they had seen prior to renting the property;
• Over half (62 per cent) of the age group in ‘Generation Rent’ have had trouble retrieving their deposit back at the end of their tenancy;
• The majority (51 per cent) of people aged 25- 34 surveyed, had to take legal action against their landlords; and
• Over half (54 per cent) of millennials surveyed felt that they had been unfairly evicted.
Open Property Group found that it is the millennial generation who have suffered the
oung adults feel they are being badly treated by private landlords who take advantage of them and do not honour
most from rogue or criminal landlords. Since 2011, nearly 3,000 landlords have faced
prosecution under the Housing Act 2004. In London alone, the data reveals 2,006 individuals and companies were fined a total of £3m for housing offences. Figures provided by the Ministry of Justice
show that the number of evictions is increasing year on year, rising by 53 per cent since 2010. Figures from the Office of National Statistics shows that the number of people still renting in their thirties is at a record high, while according to the English Housing Survey the private rented sector has doubled in size since 2002. However, it is not all bad news. Jason Harris-
Cohen, Director of Open Property Group, said: “Thanks to Shelter Housing, there is a renewed focus on landlord prosecution with an additional £5m to be shared out amongst councils to take action against landlords. “The new funding is part of the Housing and
Planning Bill; it is great news for tenants needing help to eliminate landlord issues and also provides better living conditions and support for all.” As rents continues to rise, research from the
Association of Residential Lettings Agents found that first time buyers who buy a house this year will have spent a total of £52,900 on rent in their lifetime. and that UK tenants spent nearly a quarter (22 per cent) of their wages on rent last year.
Industry urged to reserve judgement on Housing Act
and Planning Act until detailed guidance is published. In a briefing on the Housing & Planning Act
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issued to its members within days of royal assent being granted, the Chartered Institute of Housing has urged housing workers to wait for the detail of the legislation. The CIH wants to see more homes of all types, including more affordable homes to rent, while also being concerned at the ongoing loss of social rented housing, saying it’s “a problem which will be exacerbated by some of the measures in the Act.” There was no such caution from Housing
Minister Brandon Lewis MP who hailed the new Act as a landmark piece of legislation that would “contribute to transforming generation rent into generation buy.” He said: “Our landmark Act will help anyone who aspires to own their own home achieve their dream. It will increase housing supply alongside home ownership, towards our ambition of delivering 1 million
ousing professionals are being urged to take a ‘wait and see’ approach before making judgement on the Housing
new homes.” Much of the new Act is directed towards
encouraging the building of more new homes for sale and speeding up the planning process. But the CIH clearly wants to see more detail in a number of areas. These include:
• definition of higher value council owned homes that are to be sold when they become vacant;
• how Pay to Stay rules affecting better off tenants are to be applied and rate at which increased rents will apply;
• the mechanism to be used by the Government to calculate the amount owed by each stock retaining authority;
• the detailed regulations requiring starter homes to be included on residential sites as a condition of securing planning permission.
The CIH is predicting a significant reduction in the number of council owned properties as local authorities struggle to replace homes that are sold either to tenants or as they become empty. A loss of over 7,000 council homes a year is forecast unless more Government funding is
6 | HMM May 2016 |
www.housingmmonline.co.uk
allowed for building their replacements. This is contributing to a predicted reduction of 370,000 in the number of social rent homes between 2012 and 2020. Less controversial measures exist over new
controls in the private rented sector, but housing staff are waiting for more detail over issues including how the blacklist of rogue landlords and lettings agents will be set up and operated, the revised fit and proper person test, rules governing the serving of banning orders, and the use of rent repayment orders.
Brandon Lewis MP
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