Labour unveiled plans for sweeping housing reforms yesterday that would reduce landlord powers to evict tenants or stop them keeping pets.
Shadow Levelling Up secretary Lisa Nandy said the party’s Private Renters’ Charter would end Section 21 evictions, give renters rights to make alterations to the property and stop bans on animals in rental homes.
Labour also plans to introduce a four-month notice period for landlords wanting to evict tenants and see a national register of landlords set up.
Addressing the Labour Party conference in Liverpool yesterday, Nandy said: “For private renters we will tilt the balance of power back to you through a powerful new renters’ charter and a new decent homes standard – written into law.
“Because security in your home, the right to make your home your own, and most of all the right to live in a home that isn’t cold, mouldy, damp and unfit for human habitation, is a fundamental human right.”
Responding to Labour’s plans for the private rented sector announced yesterday by the shadow Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary, Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “It is depressing that the Labour Party is once again demonising all landlords. The vast majority do a good job, providing a fifth of all housing in the country. That is why private tenants are more likely to be satisfied with their accommodation than those in the social rented sector.
“The combined effects of what Labour is proposing, in particular essentially making rent payments an optional extra, will seriously damage confidence and with it, the supply of homes to rent when demand is already high. Tenants will suffer in the long run.
“The reality is that promises of new social housing at some distant point in the future will do nothing to help renters struggling today.”
Labour is riding high on the back of a troubled few months for the Conservative Party, according to the latest poll.
More stamp duty changes on the horizon as Labour on course for significant majority
Comments (9)
NEWSFLASH.
We just listed a new instruction and within 8 hours had 67 requests for it and all of them citied landlords selling up as reason for moving. I don’t believe that is necessarily true, but all can’t be a lie. Staff earnt their keep today!
We’ve been here before… I do wish the politicians would do their due diligence and look back in the history books at Rent Act 1977 which will show them all they need to know about how this type of policy will backfire. For every ying, there is a yang….
Attacking and demonising Landlords isn’t justified and it simply doesn’t work. Changes to date have seen roughly 1/4M Landlords leave the market in the last 8 years or so. The marketplace we see today (low stock, over-subscribed enquiries & soaring rents/offers) is a direct result of this.
Demonising an entire marketplace, as the likes of GenRent & Acorn have done of late, might get column inches and the attention of aspirational politicians- but it is currently creating far greater issues than those it is solving.
Three, rather obvious, things really need to happen to address any current existing issues:
-Ring-fenced funding for effective & proactive enforcement of current regulation
-Tackling appalling housing associations and genuine rogue landlords, possibly with rights to cease assets or place them under new (and proven) management
-Build quality social housing in decent volumes
These three things will see standards improve and the market self-right itself. Simple- but it won’t happen because these aren’t ‘sexy’ solutions. A politician or party can’t lay claim to ‘owning’ this solution (and therefore the glory when they work)- so instead we now face a political ‘one-upmanship’ as the revolving door of housing ministers use clickbait politics in a desperate attempt to win votes and outdo one another. It’s dangerous and, ultimately, the party that will suffer the greatest through all of this is tenants- the very people both parties (and activists) claim to be acting for. Disgraceful and documented advice will mean the ‘told you so’s’ will come thick and fast- but will be too late.
Perhaps they should get rid of the mouldy old wet politicians who continue to peddle the same old rubbish and destabilise the rental market with the scaremongering. This not only adversely impacts on the investment markets but also adversely impacts on the supply of rental property which means tenants have less and less choice. They are doing a dis-service to all sides in an efforrt to by votes from ill advised voters. LIsa Nandy seems to be push the existing tory line in any event.
Everyone is going on about how much of a lead Labour have over the Conservatives at the moment and how they’re going to romp home in the next election.
This happens every single time.
I’m happy to stick my neck out here and say that Labour STILL will not win the next election. Firstly, they re simply not credible, and no matter how bad the Tories get, if Labour can’t get their act together then people will not vote for them. Labour can’t even decide who they represent, and every time they try and represent one group – as happened with Corbyn – they just alienate the other lot.
Secondly, Shy Tory Syndrome is in full play, here. Tories don’t take part in opinion polls and keep themselves to themselves, knowing that to say anything just results in an attack from the extreme left. So it’s easier to keep schtum, especially right now, given they’re not exactly giving the best account of themselves.
The problem we have with many politician is they are in an executive status position with practically no qualifications, attack each other (PM question time is squabbling children) and often no creditable answers and live in fear of the media who try to trip them up and hang the out to dry, so are uncommitted. Far too much politics is targeted for public vote by parties, rather than what needs to be done. The lot of them have a serious problem with public persona.
As has been said many times, a week is a long time in politics.
If, when we have an election, Labour win, landlords will sell up in droves.
I see in Wales they are already bringing in 6 month notice to quit at the end of the year following a failure to launch because the social housing sector objected ….. they couldn’t make it work! but they kept the Sec 21.
Its time local authorities were held to account for telling tenants not to leave when a lawful notice has been served and pay the landlords all expenses as a direct result of that advice.
Labour will finish off PRS, all they are doing is trying to cover up the mess all previous governments have made of insufficient social housing and using PRS.
Well said @BeadleBen Can we ask @lisanandy what she doing for good tenants that have 0 problems?
Cause can be sure all those of mine, many been with me 20 years paying £500pm when surrounding rents r £850pm, will be increased to keep up with your attacks.