Please ask your MP to stand up for private renters locally in 2016

Dear Editor,

Currently 72% of landlords rent out just one property and 88% rent out less than three properties; furthermore, the huge majority are not part of professional industry bodies or accreditation schemes. Due to the lack of regulation in the sector, though, these figures remain estimates – the government does not actually know how many landlords are currently operating in the country.

Three in ten privately rented homes are considered ‘non-decent’ and one in six are physically unsafe – even though the council has a legal obligation to correct hazards in the home.

When a tenant has a landlord who refuses to make repairs to the property, the local council should be their next port of call. Unfortunately, local council environmental health teams are woefully under-resourced and many cases of unsafe housing slip through the net - there are an estimated 16% physically unsafe privately rented homes.

Further Westminster imposed austerity will make this resources situation for councils worse not better.

Where the council doesn't take action, it is technically possible for the tenant to take their landlord to court, but only if their rent is below £80 a year. There is a requirement for landlords to ensure that homes are fit for human habitation but it's limited to rent levels last set in 1957 – almost sixty years ago.

This causes problems both in encouraging better standards across the industry and writing national policy. It also means that there is a huge variation in the experience that renter have in the PRS, with no agreed standards or code of conduct that must be met in order to be a landlord.

Citizens Advice estimates that 740,000 private rented homes are unsafe, but only 2006 landlords have been convicted of an offence. One in three homes in the private rented sector fails the Decent Homes Standard. And recent data has shown that too many landlords are able to continue renting out homes with dangerous and unhealthy conditions; much of this rent to landlords is paid by the State from public funds in the form of Housing Benefit which claimants never see, it is in effect a ‘private landlord subsidy’; A massive billion pound transfer of public money into private hands with very little, if any, in the way of checks or public scrutiny or political accountability.

That these rents are in many cases paid from the Public purse means we should at least ensure that such public money goes to landlords whose properties meet basic standards and are at the very least fit for human habitation.

Could I please take this opportunity to ask concerned readers of Rochdale Online to ask their MP to stand up for private renters this can be done in a few minutes at the Generation Rent homepage at:

http://www.generationrent.org/private_renters_ask_to_parliament

It is our public money that is being paid to private landlords the time is long overdue when the Public knew exactly who that money is paid to , how many landlords they are paying that Public money to and for basic safety , overcrowding levels ,and human habitation standards to be taken as red.

Yours,

Andrew Wastling