Industry news
New rules to target rogue landlords go live
to improve safety, security and affordability for private tenants. The new rules came into effect from early
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April and they follow the Housing White Paper’s launch, which is designed to encourage growth in the private rented sector, while protecting tenants from bad landlords who flout the rules. Councils can now impose fines of up to
£30,000 as an alternative to taking landlords to court for a range of housing offences. They can also retain all of the income to make sure it is used for private sector housing enforcement purposes. Rent repayment orders, which can be issued
to penalise landlords managing or letting unlicensed properties, have also been extended to cover a wider range of situations. These include the illegal evictions or harassment of the occupiers of a property, using violence to secure entry and the breach of a banning order.
FSC©
ocal councils have been given new powers to crack down on rogue landlords as part of a series of measures
Poor quality
Housing and Planning Minister Gavin Barwell said: “These measures will give councils the additional powers they need to tackle poor- quality rental homes in their area. “By driving out of business those rogue landlords that continue to flout the rules, we can raise standards, improve affordability and give tenants the protections they need.” Further new measures introduced in April include giving councils access to tenancy deposit protection data that help them identify rental properties in their area, and tackle the small minority of rogue landlords through targeted enforcement and prevention work. Letting agents’ fees will also be banned to give renters greater clarity and control over what they will pay. Since 2011 the Government has provided
£12m so local councils can carry out more raids, issue more statutory notices and
demolish beds in sheds and other prohibited buildings.
Matters
and money compared to site made alternatives. However, even with the move to sustainable timber, government
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ince the Forest Stewardship Council was founded in the early 1990s, its ‘Chain of Custody’ certification process has become recognised globally as the primary standard for sourcing sustainable timber.
Yet in spite of the UK government’s ‘Timber Procurement Policy’ guidance, which in essence, requires only independently verifiable legal and sustainable timber should be used on housing stock, there is evidence of inconsistency and a lack of awareness of this, particularly in local authority and housing association property refurbishment projects.
Where’s the issue?
Tens of thousands of local authority properties are maintained and refurbished every year, often requiring boilers and heating system pipework to be concealed. For more than 25 years, pre-formed and pre- finished plywood boxing has gradually been adopted as the preferred solution for many LAs and HAs, together with contractors, as it saves time
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www.housingmmonline.co.uk
procurement guidance and FSC certification, most if not all, LA pipe boxing specifications still do not specify the use of products manufactured from FSC certified legal and sustainable timber. As FSC pipe boxing costs no more than the non-FSC equivalent, price is not an obstacle to specification or supply. Also, under the scope of their own sustainability policies, contractors and merchants should be purchasing and supplying FSC products in preference to non-FSC equivalents. Some would even argue that they should go further and take the responsibility of advising specifiers that legal and sustainable products are available.
Time for change
Price is clearly not a barrier to change, which should help stimulate interest from specifiers and contractors alike to adopt pipe boxing manufactured from independently verified legal and sustainable timber. It’s likely that LAs, HAs, contractors and merchants are as focused on sustainability and sustainably sourced products, as we are at Encasement. But, for some reason it’s not being applied to the use of pre-formed pipe boxing, which is worth millions of pounds to maintenance contractors, heating engineers and merchants nationally.
01733 266 889
sales@encasement.co.uk
Homelessness Reduction Bill latest The head of the housing sector’s leading
professional body welcomed news that the Homelessness Reduction Bill passed its final stage in the House of Lords as new figures revealed the continuing scale of the problem. Terrie Alafat CBE, chief executive of the
Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “The passage of the Homelessness Reduction Bill through its final stage in the House of Lords is a hugely positive step forward as homelessness statistics reveal the scale of this problem. “It’s particularly alarming, but not
surprising, to see the number of households in temporary accommodation increase by 10 per cent compared to last year and 58 per cent since 2010. “Though the Homelessness Reduction Bill’s
progress is historic, the statistics are a reminder that the bill needs to be part of a robust homelessness strategy if we’re really going to tackle an issue which has steadily worsened. “That will require significant support for
local authorities to deliver, more truly affordable homes and the review of welfare policies which undermine the government’s ambition to create a country which works for everyone.”
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