London Renters Union to put their demands to Cllr Butt and Cllr Southwood later this afternoon

 

Following Saturday's very successful and often moving Community Assembly  organised by English for Action, Brent members of the London Renters Union are meeting with Cllr Butt and Cllr Southwood this afternoon to discuss their key demands. Wembley Matters has documented a number of cases locally and here as background are some cases from the LRU:

A recently joined LRU member, a single parent with 6 children, 2 with disabilities, and with English as a second language, had been placed 2 years ago by the council directly into a flat with a rat infestation, thus discharging the duty. When the boiler broke down she tried to complain to the council, but was only told that she could make another homeless application, and not passed on to the enforcement team.

A property guardian facing a 75% rent increase from DotDotDot (partially as his partner moved in, and also a large rent increase on top of that). DotDotDot are a property guardianship company with a contract from Brent council to fill flats in the South kilburn estate - Labour has committe to lobbying to bring the rents down, so why are they letting DDD get away with this? The renters a proposal to run the flats as a short-life housing coop if DotDotDot say it isn't financially viable for them... - https://twitter.com/ldnrentersunion/status/1504518653290725381?s=21

This issue is really draining me mentally, I can’t focus at work, I can’t sleep well nowadays, I can’t eat well and it’s affecting my health. I am scared of being homeless.

 These are LRU's demands as determined by members real life experiences:

1.    Hold Landlords Accountable. Don't give licences to landlords until they prove the accommodation is the right standard. Use your powers to make the landlords fix our problems - and to make them pay when they don’t. Employ more workers to do this with the money from landlords. 

2.   Work with renters. Meet with Brent LRU regularly, and come to a public meeting after the election to show that you are keeping your promises. Tell local people that they can join London Renters Union for solidarity.

3.   The right to stay in our communities. Don't force people to move out of Brent when they come to the council for housing help. Never say that people are "intentionally homeless". Brent’s temporary accommodation is not good enough - tell us your plans to change this.

4.   Reduce Rents. Tell the government to Control Rents to stop landlords increasing the rent when they want.

5.    Support and solidarity. Give us the right to have appointments to see a real person. This is very important for some disabled people, and if English or reading is difficult. No long, difficult online forms. 

6.   Homes for us. Build housing for the working-class. Don't allow new buildings to be only for the rich. Learn how to negotiate with the big companies so we don't always lose and they always profit. 

You can support these deamnds by taking  E-Action to write to your local councillors HERE

 

1.Hold Landlords Accountable

LRU sees licensing as a key tool against the exploitation of renters, and wants to see a strong consultation for borough-wide licensing. However, an effective enforcement strategy is necessary for licensing to be worth it for renters as well as councils, and also for the majority of properties which are unlicensed. 

·       Expand licensing borough-wide, and expand the enforcement team in order to meet the needs of renters.

·       Ensure that all homes meet the minimum energy efficiency standards, fine landlords that are illegally renting F and G rated properties, and create a local economic recovery scheme using GLA funds and local businesses and apprenticeships to get PRS properties up to B rating as per the Climate and Ecological Strategy.

·       Use the new capacity to ensure that landlords meet the terms of the licence before the licence is issued, and through regular inspections until it expires.

·       Use the rent repayment order scheme against landlords who continue to flout the licensing laws.

2.Work With Renters

The council should meet regularly with Brent LRU, and let renters know about the union.

·       Create a liaison point who will promptly respond to any issues involving LRU members

·       The Cabinet Lead for Housing and the Leader should attend a public meeting of renters within the first 6 months of the administration to update on progress on the housing commitments.

 

3.The Right to stay in our communities

Everyone has the right to stay in their community and with their families and support networks. 

·       Brent Council should end the practice of forcing working class people to choose between leaving London or being declared ‘intentionally homeless’ and become at risk of street homelessness - support people to stay in Brent.

·       Brent Council is building temporary accommodation in order to reduce the reliance on private landlords, which we applaud. However, many renters will not be able to access this block - the council should set out minimum safety and quality standards for ‘temporary’ accommodation and take enforcement action against landlords that refuse to meet them. 

·       Councils should ensure they are giving appropriate weight to invisible disabilities such as chronic mental health issues when making housing offers.

 

4. Bring the rents down

Our demand

·       Council leaders should add their voice to the housing movement’s call for rent controls so that no one is forced to pay more than a third of their income on rent.

·       Brent Council should pass a motion calling on the Government to introduce affordable and effective rent controls, and should put pressure on the opposition to back them. Brent Council should collect and publish data on rent levels.

5.   More accessible housing and support

Disabled people, those with English as a second language and with other support needs should be able to get the advice and support they need to exercise their housing rights in a way that works for them. Councils should ensure that both housing itself and advice and support services are as accessible as possible to tenants. Councils should:

·       Ensure that council advice and support is clear, rights-based and easy to access by the individual themselves without needing to rely on another person. Support should be able to be accessed through multiple channels (such as email, telephone, face-to-face), and long and complex online forms should be eliminated.

·       Set out a multi-pronged strategy for informing tenants about their rights, recourse when they are not met, and entitlements to grants such as Disabled Facilities Grant.

·       Set out a clear expectation for landlords and letting agents within the borough to ensure that there are multiple channels of communication through which tenants can approach them.

 

6.  Development

Social housing must be prioritised in all developments. To ensure just and responsible development in Brent, the council must:

·       Prioritise housing the huge numbers of people on the waiting list in new developments. 

·       Build more, larger 4 and 5 bed houses (both council and private developer) to deal with chronic overcrowding in the borough. The waiting list for a three- or four-bedroom council house in Brent is 17 years.

·       Brent Council didn’t respond to journalists about whether it has a strategy for keeping developers to their s106 agreements - how is this happening currently?