Time is set aside at each council meeting for a non-cabinet member debate. Tomorrow Cllr Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, Willesden Green ward.
One area missing is the high-end purpose built private rented sector such as those built by Quintain in Wembley under the Tipi name. There aside from rent the service charges have become an issue (see ) and renters have found also themselves trapped into contracts with utility and broad-band suppliers. As these contracts are negotiated for all residents by the property management company, people cannot search our cheaper suppliers.
Motion for Non Cabinet Member debate
Private Rented Housing Sector
This Council notes:
The important work carried out by the Private Housing Enforcement team:
· Brent has an estimated 36,000
privately rented properties. The Private Housing Enforcement team carry out
between 30-40 planned inspections per week, plus an additional 10-15
unannounced inspection raids.
· Brent Council has won 140 landmark
prosecution cases against rogue landlords, agents and sub-letters since 2016.
The convictions have resulted in more than £1.1m in court fines and costs.
· A total of 901 PRS Properties have
been improved as a consequence of their interventions, since January 2018.
· Brent Council is registered with,
and a member of the Housing Ombudsman Service. We also contribute to the
renters’ advice service: Advice 4 Renters, and enforcement officers give A4R’s
advice leaflets to tenants when they visit. They also signpost tenants to A4R’s
website, or SSP Law (solicitor firm contracted by Brent Council to advise
tenants).
This despite
the Council operating against a backdrop of prolonged austerity. We therefore
also note :
· The average price paid for property
in Brent in the last year stands at nearly half a million pounds. Consequently
it is no small wonder that the proportion of people renting privately has
doubled since 2004; half of 18-35s, 1 in 4 families with children, and growing
numbers of older people now live in privately rented homes [1].
· That most of England’s 11 million
renters are on tenancies with fixed terms of six months or a year; after this
period has ended, landlords can evict their tenants with just two months’
notice, without giving them a reason. These ‘no fault evictions’ were
introduced under Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act; before this, renters had
much greater security and it was difficult for landlords to evict tenants who
paid the rent on time and looked after the property.
· Evictions are the number one cause
of homelessness with 80% of evictions on no-fault grounds, and 63% of private
renters who were forced to move in 2016 evicted not due to any fault of their
own but because the landlord wanted to sell or use the property [2,3,4].
· The recent Guardian and ITV
investigation into rogue landlords operating in Brent, and note how a number of
these criminals wilfully exploit loopholes within existing legislation.
· The London Mayor’s online “rogue
landlord checker” is available to all Londoners and has received more than
1,000 entries from local authorities.
· That Karen Buck MP’s private members
bill on “Homes (fitness for human habitation)”, which seeks to require that
residential rented accommodation is provided and maintained in a state of
fitness for human habitation. We also welcome the progress of the tenants’ fees
bill through Parliament.
This Council believes:
· That housing is intrinsically linked
to poverty and life chances. Children need secure homes from which to excel in
their schooling. Adults need a secure home in order to work, flourish, and take
part in society to their fullest potential.
· The Government has been forced into
a U-turn after a Guardian and ITV News investigation revealed that not a single
name had been entered into the government’s new rogue landlord database system
in more than six months since its launch – and that even when landlords’ names
were listed, the public would not be allowed to see them. [5]
· Landlord licensing is not fit for
purpose until universally implemented, and the problem of rogue landlords is
far-reaching beyond borough boundaries. We need an effective scheme, local
authorities that are properly resourced and improved tenants’ rights. A
national regulatory framework would ensure consistent regulation for all
landlords across the country and stop the rogues from switching local
authorities.
· To fix this broken system, we need a
complete rebalancing of the power relationship between landlords and tenants.
The underlying issues of the housing crisis will only be solved by the
construction of social and genuinely affordable housing on an unprecedented
scale, with legislative teeth to punish rogue landlords.
· Mass homelessness is a national
disgrace, and removing its leading causes should be a priority.
· Alongside tackling homelessness,
abolishing Section 21 no-fault evictions would help to make renting more
secure, improve standards, increase tenant confidence and ultimately contribute
towards making renting a viable long-term alternative to home ownership or
social rent for the millions who currently cannot access either.
· Renters Unions would make it easier
for tenants to defend their rights, and for existing unions like the London
Renters Union to defend their members
This
Council resolves:
· To support the abolition of Section
21 no fault evictions.
· To note that the Council will
continue to serve improvement notices and emergency remedial
action notices on landlords where private rented homes fail physical inspection,
which can
restrict the scope of private landlords to
serve retaliatory section 21 notices.
· To call for the tightening of
legislation so landlords can’t use property agents to hop from
borough to borough.
· To support new renters’ unions to allow
renters to organise and defend their rights, and to
make the
housing market fairer.
Councillor Fleur Donnelly-Jackson Willesden Green Ward
Notes:
Prosecutions:
https://www.brent.gov.uk/council-news/press-releases/pr6728/https://www.brent.gov.uk/council-news/press-releases/pr6719/
Action 4 Renters – annual report
http://www.advice4renters.org.uk/files/9415/1181/6010/AR_2017.pdf
Footnotes:
[1]
English Housing Survey 2016-17
[2]
‘Record numbers left homeless after eviction by private landlords in England’,
The Guardian, 28.9.16
[3] ‘How
eviction leads to homelessness: “My youngest child doesn’t know what a home
is”’, The Guardian, 8.1.18
[4] ‘The state of private renting’, Inside Housing, 2.8.17
