Landlord licensing scheme in Redbridge rejected by government

Maybe the "Penny Has Finally Dropped" with at least one member of the Government, concluding that if they carry on bashing the PRS sector continually then the re-percussions on their housing policy (....."what policy" did I hear echoed), with Landlords with less resolve selling and leaving, the ensuing mess will have to be cleared up by his particular department. Let's hope that his decision has been reached with accredited and balanced research being done this time by the countless staff available to him. We can only hope he will pass on his concerns to the Treasury together with the reasoning for his recent decision.

Quite so.
“Redbridge Council already has extensive powers to tackle rogue landlords and should now concentrate its time and resource on targeting specific problem areas, so that the majority of law abiding landlords and residents are not faced with footing the bill for a broadbrush scheme that has ultimately been determined as unnecessary."

They have to realise ALL costs for compliance has to be passed on to the tenant ultimately. Only fines for non-compliance are down to the landlord.

An FOI on them via WDTK would be interesting to see their evidence, so it can be properly tested, and how that would deal with rogue landlords.

I'm hoping some lawyers can take this on in the future and it can be a 'PPI'-type scandal. We can then be refunded all these literally extortionate fees and also be reimbursed for unnecessary work we have been forced to do (and then sometimes told later on that they have changed the rules again and the unnecessary work is no longer 'necessary' - after we've spent a fortune on it.).

This must be a different country....

Two interesting dated links to Countrywide licensing.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-opinion/how-private-landlords-can-help-8109219

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/wales-new-licensing-system-landlords-9646734

ENCOURAGE PRIVATE SECTOR

It’s clear that more is needed to encourage and support the private rented sector to house those who need housing the most as often those in this group are most vulnerable.

More than 2000 people have been on housing waiting lists for more than a decade.

According to figures obtained under a Freedom of Information request by the Welsh Liberal Democrats, a further 9,000 have been waiting for more than five years.

It is therefore not surprising that according to Census data, between 2001 and 2011, while the proportion of Welsh households in the social rented sector fell, the proportion that were rented privately almost doubled from 7.4% to 14.1%.

Having more homes to rent provides tenants with more choices and means that landlords have to compete for business based on costs and quality.

RENT CONTROLS?

Further to this, local authorities are implementing costly blanket licensing schemes that again target good landlords and simply increase bureaucracy without proper benchmarking, goals or evidence they work. These are often implemented due to political pressure and an attempt to fundraise which ultimately reduces supply and raises rent, having a negative impact on tenants.

Many in Wales may think that rent controls that punish greedy landlords would help the sector.

Instead, it will only harm the 2,000 tenants on waiting lists. There is substantial evidence that proves that such a measure would be a massive barrier to investment in the sector.

Figures produced by the independent Office for National Statistics clearly show that in the past five years, rents in Wales have increased by just 3.1%, well below inflation, which stood at 1.2% in September.

In the past year alone, the increase has been just 0.2%. This amounts to a real terms fall in rents. Such figures cannot, in any way, shape or form be used to justify rent controls.

The evidence is clear that rent controls only stifle investment in much-needed new homes to rent.

In 2013, the cross-party House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee observed that rent controls “would serve only to reduce investment in the sector at a time when it is most needed”.

In France, the Socialist Government scrapped plans for nationwide rent controls because of the harm they would do to investment. We are therefore calling on all parties in Wales to rule out rent controls.