No Fault Evictions

[niemeyjt]

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Rent controls urgently needed, plus security and end of no fault evictions.

Given this has failed in Scotland, causing Edinburgh Council to declare a "housing emergency", it would appear insane to do the same in England and Wales.

 

[Agent_zed]

Non of these things are in crisis with fundamental effects on the lives of many people and even homelessness.

really?
You don't think banks are in crisis and contributing to wealth disparities? preventing people having bank accounts and/or charging higher interest rates, overdraft charges etc?
Expensive car repairs stopping people getting to work?
Supermarkets pushing alcohol and poor quality food at the expense of the buyer of the food and the producers/farmers?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The facts

I didn't say the majority - but there's a lot of it about.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-67914836

Social housing, not private landlords. Still no comment?
(No surprise there.)

 

[monster]

Rent controls urgently needed, plus security and end of no fault evictions.
It's de-regulation and lack of govt. action which has created the current housing crisis

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/p...ina have fallen,an even deeper housing crisis.

 

[selectortone]

where does it end?

In a land of unicorns and rainbows aka the world according to Jacob.

 

[monster]

Non of these things are in crisis with fundamental effects on the lives of many people and even homelessness.

But you will only deepen the problem further if you attack landlords with yet further regulation and tax hikes and price controls

 

[MikeJhn]

Stop feeding the troll chaps.

 

[Delaney]

Secondly their domination of the market and profiteering pushes rents up to the highest level possible, with the lowest quality of service possible.
They are a social problem.

What has any of that got to do with someone abusing other peoples property, income and livelihood?

 

[ey_tony]

But there is a housing crisis and the private landlord system could be seen as exploiting this and becoming a burden on their tenants.
It's not their fault as such, nor the tenants, the system is "broken" as they say.
One unfortunate detail is the idea of "social" or "affordable" housing as distinct from housing as a whole. It implies a dual system for the haves and the have nots. All housing is "social" housing serving society, and the lack of "affordable" housing is down to unrestrained free market economics leading to the housing bubble.

When the Labour government has built all the social housing it needs to meet the demands of society and migrants there will be no desire or requirement for privately owned rental housing which means house prices will plummet due to the market being flooded with properties which were once rental accommodation.
Win - win for everyone.
Just one question, when do you think that will happen?

 

[treeturner123]

Just to put a lid on Rent Control. This was tried by the Wilson Government in the 1970s and was a TOTAL disaster as no one, sorry no organisation (as I realises Jacob thinks people owning property is theft) invested in property so it deteriorated.

Also, anyone who has been to Cuba will see EXACTLY what state intervention has done to property in the past.

Phil - Unashamedly a marketeer.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

40,000 Somalians in the UK (England, primarily) are in social housing. Over 50% of social housing in London is taken by immigrants. This of course has absolutely nothing to do with any shortage.

 

[NickDReed]

I'm not convinced on the statement that 'things are in crisis'.

There are an estimated 261,000 homes in the UK that are considered long term vacant according to the Big Issue. There are an estimated 309,000 individuals considered homeless (sleeping rough or in temporary accommodation) in the UK according to Shelter. (of course this figure will have variable accuracy due to the nature of the population being counted). I'm sure everyone is capable of doing the maths on that one.

Seems to me this is an ineffective use of available resource (by governments...... successive..... regardless of tie colour).

As has previously been raised on the thread, it appears the issue isn't a lack of homes, it's a lack of willing to live in the available homes.

 

[Jacob]

I'm not convinced on the statement that 'things are in crisis'.

There are an estimated 261,000 homes in the UK that are considered long term vacant according to the Big Issue. There are an estimated 309,000 individuals considered homeless (sleeping rough or in temporary accommodation) in the UK according to Shelter. (of course this figure will have variable accuracy due to the nature of the population being counted). I'm sure everyone is capable of doing the maths on that one.

Seems to me this is an ineffective use of available resource (by governments...... successive..... regardless of tie colour).

As has previously been raised on the thread, it appears the issue isn't a lack of homes, it's a lack of willing to live in the available homes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-67914836

 

[Blackswanwood]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-67914836

I doubt anyone will argue against rogue landlords being held to task Jacob. My guess is that the landlord involved in the wrongdoing covered by this article is not typical of the private landlords commenting in this thread.

Interesting that Andy Burnham is quoted as saying that there were many landlords trying to do the right thing. These landlords should get protection through the law to deal with bad tenants just as tenants should get protection against bad landlords. Neither is more important than the other in my view.

 

[John Brown]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-67914836

The big problem with this is that you can't force tenants to keep trickle vents open, turn up the (super expensive) heating, stop drying clothes inside etc. There are some problems that can be fixed by landlords, and some that can't.

 

[paulrbarnard]

When the Labour government has built all the social housing it needs to meet the demands of society and migrants there will be no desire or requirement for privately owned rental housing which means house prices will plummet due to the market being flooded with properties which were once rental accommodation.
Win - win for everyone.
Just one question, when do you think that will happen?

I think too many socialists are neglecting where the money comes from to build those houses or they are expecting others to pay for them…

 

[Sachakins]

Regarding the house building programme projected by government, both Blue and red ties, the yearly build numbers around 300,000 units, will not accommodate the net migration population growth, that's on top of birth rate growth plus the general shift to less occupants per dwelling unit that has been happening in recent years.
Net migration summary taken from Statista.com, see link for detailed numbers.
Long-term migration figures in the UK 1964-2023
Published by D. Clark, Jul 3, 2024
In 2023, approximately 1.22 million people migrated to the United Kingdom, while 532,000 people migrated from the UK, resulting in a net migration figure of 685,000. There have consistently been more people migrating to the United Kingdom than leaving it since 1993 when the net migration figure was negative 1,000. Although migration from the European Union has declined since the Brexit vote of 2016, migration from non-EU countries accelerated rapidly from 2021 onwards. In the year to June 2023, 968,000 people from non-EU countries migrated to the UK, compared with 129,000 from EU member states.

Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/283287/net-migration-figures-of-the-united-kingdom-y-on-y/

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The big problem with this is that you can't force tenants to keep trickle vents open, turn up the (super expensive) heating, stop drying clothes inside etc. There are some problems that can be fixed by landlords, and some that can't.

I spoke only yesterday to a chap who lives in fairly new (2012ish) housing down the road, some housing association, some part owned and he was moaning that he didn't have a log fire like his mother had because it was a cheap way of heating the house. I said it's not cheap, we burned (in a stove) £440 of logs last year on top of everything salvaged through the year and he said £440 wasn't much more than his house cost per month at peak in electricity. All electric to satisfy current fads, ASHPs which cost the earth to run (his words not mine). I can only imagine how damp some will get.

In the local press there's often a horror story about mould (nine times out of ten in social housing) - I've yet to see a picture taken of a property with mould and an open window. (Humidity here is up to 95% tonight.)

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Local authorities are principally responsible for the quality (H&S, environmental etc) of rented property both private and social. Complaints should also be addressed to them if landlords fail to meet their obligations.

I accept that it may compromise the safety of tenants if they complain.

Local authorities will predictably complain budget cuts have left effective action under resourced - whether consistently true or just another excuse for underperformance is debatable.

 

[Jacob]

I think too many socialists are neglecting where the money comes from to build those houses or they are expecting others to pay for them…

Expecting others. Tax and spend. How else? There is no magic money tree but there is a massive surplus of wealth just waiting to be taxed.
Bring it on!
But don't worry it could be many years before our new govt realise that "growth" and "trickle down theory" won't do it.