9:33 AM, 9th January 2025, About 18 hours ago 31
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Angela Rayner claims the Labour government want to work with landlords, but blames Section 21 evictions for having a significant impact on homelessness.
In a meeting with the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Ms Rayner claims the government wants to support landlords in providing “safe and secure homes”.
The Housing Secretary repeated Labour’s government ambition to ban Section 21 evictions and introduce Awaab’s Law to the private rented sector.
In the Select Committee meeting, Ms Rayner says she was ‘hesitant’ to put a timeline on when the government wants to end homelessness but claims Section 21 evictions are a contributing factor.
Ms Rayner said: “I think it’s really challenging to set out a timeline to end homelessness, given the challenges we face with the inheritance from the Conservatives and the current projections for homelessness.
“One of the biggest issues we have to address is Section 21 no-fault evictions, which are having a significant impact on homelessness.”
However, Ms Rayner did not provide evidence to support this claim.
The English Housing Survey Private Rented Sector report for 2021-2022 reveals the majority of renters (77%) ended their last tenancy because they wanted to move NOT because of eviction.
Ms Rayner also told the Select Committee meeting that the government wants to work with landlords to improve housing standards.
The Housing Secretary criticised a small minority of landlords, blaming them for providing homes that were unsuitable for tenants. She said:
She said: “People are living in housing that is not good for their health, but they are too frightened to raise the alarm. This is not adequate.
“As soon as they raise concerns, they are served a Section 21 notice by the landlord, who then finds someone else willing to move in and accept the squalor they’re being put in.
“I must say, though, that not all landlords are like that. There are some incredibly decent landlords out there.
“The Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law that we are introducing are about making sure we can support people living in safe and secure housing, while acknowledging that there are significant numbers of people who are not just in temporary accommodation, but in housing that is not safe for them at the moment.
“We want to work with landlords to make sure they can bring their homes up to standards.
“This isn’t about landlords being bad; this is about acknowledging that we have a housing crisis, and it’s not just about building homes, but making sure the homes we have currently are fit for human habitation.”
Elsewhere during the meeting, Ms Rayner said the government is determined to meet the 1.5 million homes target set by the government for this Parliament.
The Housing Secretary also committed to leasehold reform this year.
She said: “We want to make sure we are moving at pace, but we also want to ensure there aren’t unintended consequences. There are gaps in the current legislation that could cause problems, such as the inclusion of flats.
“We want to bring forward legislation within this year.”
Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, said: “It is encouraging to hear that the UK Government intends to progress with leasehold reform and that they are committed to making common holding a default position for many.
“Propertymark welcomes Ms Rayner’s pledge to introduce the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in March and we look forward to working with them on meeting their ambitious target of constructing 1.5 million new homes.
“However, while the Housing Secretary is intent on scrapping Section 21, which she believes is the answer to ending homelessness, it is essential there is full clarity from the UK Government on how it intends to address issues which Propertymark has highlighted, such as the anticipated backlog it will cause within the courts system.”
You can watch a clip of Angela Rayner at the committee meeting here
Ryan Stevens
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Sign Up16:14 PM, 9th January 2025, About 11 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by JB at 09/01/2025 - 10:53
I think we know the answer to that one.
dismayed landlord
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Sign Up16:29 PM, 9th January 2025, About 11 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 09/01/2025 - 15:28
A very good point. I forgot all about that difficulty but I now recall as a young ambitious man chasing a career having to spend 3 months in ‘digs’ whilst we sold our home for a reduced price and paid over the odds to secure a new home 150 miles away so that as a family we were able to reunite and all live together.
Nowadays that 3 months is very conservative. At the time its was difficult but there was no option to shorten the career path or stay local and basically wait for your boss to retire or die.
Would I do it again now in the current climate ? No.
I’d rather go on benefits! That’s the new attitude that this new wave of governments seem to be aiming for. No wonder so many adults of working age are just not prepared to work.
A housing shortage whether from high costs of buying or renting will not help this at all.
David Lawrenson
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Sign Up16:44 PM, 9th January 2025, About 11 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by JB at 09/01/2025 - 10:53
Apparently not, superb suite of skits of the Basic Instinct fan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgZ-_0j5g8M
Desert Rat
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Sign Up17:53 PM, 9th January 2025, About 9 hours ago
I've obviously been lucky and never had to serve a S21 or S8. my tenants have always left on their own accords.
As far as I can see, it's the government that is causing the most homeless people, mainly by not building houses when they are forcing PRS landlords to quit the market.
Raynor needs to look closer to home to see what is causing the problem. I'm sure that she knows and it's exactly what she wants.
A shortage of homes to make people homeless and then blame the PRS landlords.
For years, the government has tried to get rid of private landlords so as their banks can take over with build to rent.
Every year they throw in more legislation to make private landlords quit the market and I see some landlords selling up as they have had enough and the government win.
They blame the PRS with disrepair, when it was a social landlord that caused Awabs law.
When you look at the amount of disrepair in council houses compared to the PRS. There are normally hundreds or thousands of cases picked up in social housing and none of them are prosecuted. Yet 1 or 2 in the PRS are fined thousands?
Now the councils have been given a free for all of selective licencing.... I see rents going through the roof to cover the costs. So possibly more people homeless and the government will blame it on landlords and not them selves for increasing costs.
This said, how much are council tax increasing in your area?
How about energy bills... I guess we are not supposed to mention the increases there?
Cider Drinker
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Sign Up17:55 PM, 9th January 2025, About 9 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by Tom Dawson at 09/01/2025 - 09:48People have always got divorced. It’s not a particularly new phenomenon.
From the House of Commons library…
𝐀 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐜 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐍 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟏𝟏.𝟒 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐔𝐊-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟑.𝟒 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐔-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟖.𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐄𝐔 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟏𝟖% 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
I rest my case and stand by what I said.
Ryan Stevens
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Sign Up18:02 PM, 9th January 2025, About 9 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 09/01/2025 - 17:55
The estimate probably materially understates the true number of immigrants.
Nothing against immigrants per se, my wife is an immigrant, and I expect my ancestors were. A lot are hard working, integrate and pay taxes. We need immigration. However, we also need the infrastructure to cope with mass immigration on an unprecedented scale - property, education, health, etc.
Cider Drinker
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Sign Up18:05 PM, 9th January 2025, About 9 hours ago
By this time next year, Section 21 will be abolished. All the hotels will be empty, nobody will live in temporary accommodation and waiting lists will be redundant.
We will all be applauding Angela Rayner’s wisdom and we’ll feel very silly. Won’t we?
David Lawrenson
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Sign Up18:12 PM, 9th January 2025, About 9 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by Ryan Stevens at 09/01/2025 - 18:02
Agree with you and Cider Drinker.
(And my wife is an immigrant too, obtained sanctuary here from the Communist Czechoslovak government in 1970, two years after the invasion - this is a handy thing to mention to the morons who immediately call people names for daring to raise questions about immigration levels, not that I should have to play the "my wife is an immigrant too card")
Old Mrs Landlord
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Sign Up20:32 PM, 9th January 2025, About 7 hours ago
Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 09/01/2025 - 18:05
Glad to see you are able to retain a sense of humour in all this. I'm afraid mine has almost been stifled to death.
Old Mrs Landlord
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Sign Up20:57 PM, 9th January 2025, About 6 hours ago
Angela Rayner's remarks about private landlords remind me of Starmer's "Not all landlords are rogues" which carries the implication that there are a few who do not deserve that description, but they are few and far between. Rayner is throwing a billion pounds of taxpayers' money into blocking the eviction of bad or impecunious tenants which would enable landlords to keep their businesses afloat by taking on an alternative tenant who can and will pay the rent. This simply causes those landlords to sell up when they do eventually get possession. Thus it could be argued it is Rayner causing more homelessness while S21 is merely the mechanism for a landlord to obtain possession of his property. It also annoys me when she says everyone deserves a safe warm home. If tenants do not heat a property that is their fault, not the landlord's, and so are any resultant damp issues.