Council slammed after moaning about its 8,000-strong homeless list

A frustrated landlord has hit out after a council revealed that the housing crisis in their city is so bad that 8,000 households are waiting for a home – but they won’t engage with local landlords to help resolve the issue.

Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live, the council’s portfolio holder for housing, Toby Neal, said that Nottingham is facing ‘very specific challenges’.

He said there are 8,000 households on the housing waiting list and most of them are families. But the council only manages to house between 1,400 and 1,600 households every year.

Right to Buy scheme doesn’t allow the council to build

Coun Neal points out that the big challenge is money because the Right to Buy scheme doesn’t allow the council to build replacements.

He also highlights that Nottingham doesn’t have any areas to build homes on.

But local landlord Mick Roberts, who is Nottingham’s biggest private provider of homes for tenants on low incomes and benefits, told Property118.com: “He blames everything else, yet never says private landlords can help us with the homeless.

“That’s because he knows we won’t help because of his and Nottingham council’s actions.

“And the more he ignores us, the more we carry on without them and we won’t help their tenants.”

‘NOT ONCE has Toby Neale called me’

Mr Roberts added: “NOT ONCE has Toby Neale called me, emailed me or engaged with me, to see what we can do to help him and the homeless tenants out.

“Instead, they plough on with Selective Licensing as he ‘knows’ there are a few bad houses he’s out to get.”

Mr Roberts says the big issue for landlords in the city is the council’s Selective Licensing scheme which means many fellow landlords will not engage with the council.

He said: “Yet Toby Neale still ignores this. It is bonkers.

“He will move on in a year or two and absolve himself of all the homeless, while I, the tenants and other landlords will still be here to pick up the pieces and increased rents to pay for the licensing and administration.”

‘Councillor Toby Neale knows ZERO about housing’

Mr Roberts continued: “It makes you laugh; this Councillor Toby Neale knows ZERO about housing people, yet he was made the councillor for housing approximately eight months ago.

“After the last Councillor Linda Woodings for four years brought no good to the private tenants of Nottingham, except a rise in the cost of Selective Licensing mid-way through the scheme – because they found out they weren’t getting enough money in from poor tenants’ rent increases.”

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