Industry News
Private landlords call for change of attitude to rental sector
L
andlords are urging the Conservative Party to adopt a more positive approach to the private rented sector.
In a letter sent to the two leadership candidates
Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson, the Residential Landlords Association warns that the interests of tenants are not being well served by policies which are reducing the supply of homes to rent. According to Government data, 10 per cent of
landlords representing 18 per cent of all tenancies in the sector plan to reduce the number of properties they rent out while five per cent of landlords representing five per cent of tenancies plan to leave the sector altogether. Recent RLA research suggests that 46 per cent of
landlords are planning to sell some or all of their properties. It follows a raft of Conservative policies aimed at dampening investment in the market, including imposing a tax on landlord investment in new homes to rent. Most recently the Government has proposed
limiting the ability of landlords to repossess properties when they need to. As a result of the fall-off in investment, the Royal
Institution of Chartered Surveyors has warned that expectations for increasing rents are now at their highest point for three years. The RLA called on the leadership candidates to back its five-point plan for the sector, namely:
• Pro-growth taxation to ensure enough homes to rent to meet demand;
• A fair system for repossessing properties that protects tenants from unfair evictions while
retaining the confidence of landlords to regain possession of their property where there is a legitimate need. This needs to be coupled with a dedicated, housing court to settle disputes swifter and easier;
• Supporting vulnerable tenants by ending the Local Housing Allowance cap;
• Rooting out criminal landlords by providing councils with more resources to better use the powers they already have; and
• Rejecting all forms of rent controls which dry up the supply of homes to rent, reducing choice for tenants and thereby increasing rents overall.
David Smith, Policy Director for the Residential Landlords Association, said: “The new Conservative Prime Minister needs to
reconsider the approach to the private rented sector. Otherwise the situation for tenants will just get worse as they face less choice and higher rents because of a growing shortage of properties. “We need a raft of changes that will encourage
more investment in high standard homes rather than efforts to scapegoat landlords for failures by successive governments to build enough homes.” The RLA has also called for the scrapping of the Right to Rent scheme, due to its discrimination against British ethnic minorities.
Campaigners demand an end to the long wait for a tenants watchdog
An influential group of campaigners are demanding the Government acts now to establish a regulator for the social housing sector. They have cited the lack of changes since the Grenfell disaster as the primary reason for their demand. Writing to the editor of The Guardian newspaper,
the group included several chief executives of major charities, tenant activists, academics and those involved in supporting Grenfell survivors in the immediate aftermath of the fire. They say that previous governments have
responded to other crises in the past by establishing consumer protection regulators, quoting the cases of the Food Standards Agency after a series of high- profile food deaths, and the Financial Conduct Authority following financial scandals. In a strong and emotive challenge to this
Government, the letter asks: “Why should social tenants matter less?” They say tenants need to know that their wellbeing, health and safety will be protected, and standards rigorously enforced, by a regulator focused on working for them. They called on the Government to show social
tenants that they matter and will no longer be ignored. “When the next steps for social housing are announced later this year, the Government must go further than their initial proposals. We expect nothing less than a new consumer regulator.”
DEVASTATING FIRE Signatories included Polly Neate of Shelter, Ed Daffarn from the survivors group Grenfell United, the Rev Dr Mike Long of the Notting Hill Methodist Church, Jon Sparkes from Crisis, Ed
Miliband MP, Lord Jim O’Neill and Professor Anne Power from the London School of Economics. “Two years after the devastating fire at Grenfell
Tower, bereaved survivors and residents are growing increasingly frustrated that there has been no response to their demands for a new consumer regulator for social housing. “They want the loss of their loved ones to be a
catalyst for positive change. Yet we are still awaiting meaningful action from the Government as to how it will ensure tenants in social housing are listened to, and how it will genuinely strengthen the regulation of their landlords. “Theresa May’s speech at the Chartered Institute
of Housing conference spoke of a stronger consumer regulation regime, but we need more than this. “If the nine million social tenants in England are
to feel safe in their homes, and assured they’ll receive the standard of service to which they’re entitled, we need a tough new regulator to enforce consumer housing standards.
www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM August/September 2019 | 13
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