Mayor of West Yorkshire blasts landlords for raising rents

Mayor of West Yorkshire blasts landlords for raising rents

9:29 AM, 6th October 2023, About A year ago 101

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The mayor of West Yorkshire has launched a scathing attack on landlords, in a new interview.

Labour mayor Tracy Brabin has criticised landlords who raise rents in a cost-of-living crisis.

However, she does not advocate for the use of rent controls and instead wants to focus on building more affordable homes. 

Avaricious and greedy

Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, told Inside Housing magazine: “People are becoming homeless because landlords are putting rents up in order to be in line with market prices, when actually they don’t need it because they’re in a fixed mortgage themselves.

“It just avaricious, and it’s greedy. I would say to landlords that do that, you’re not really welcome in West Yorkshire because it’s not fair. Particularly when the cost of living is squeezing people’s incomes.”

Ms Brabin, whose combined authority covers Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Halifax and Leeds, added: “A third of all children in West Yorkshire are living in poverty. 200,000 families are using food banks. This is fuelled not just by the cost of living but also rising rents.”

Not thought about rent controls

This year many labour mayors including Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham have called for an immediate rent freeze to help renters deal with the cost-of-living crisis.

Labour’s Lisa Nandy slapped down the calls for rent controls in June, saying: “Rent controls that cut rents for some will almost certainly leave others homeless.”

Ms Brabin stopped short of joining her fellow mayors in directly calling for rent control powers. She said: “I’ve not thought about rent controls currently, it’s not in the forefront of my mind.”

A spokesperson for Ms Brabin later told Inside Housing magazine that building affordable homes was more important to the mayor.

Retrofit social homes

In Leeds last year at the Holtdale estate, 190 social homes were retrofitted with heat pumps, solar panels and insulation by Leeds City Council and low carbon equipment provider, Equans, at a cost of £9.6m.

Ms Brabin praised the work at the housing estate and said more needs to be done.

She said: “There are 680,000 social homes across West Yorkshire and we have to retrofit them all. So while this programme is really fantastic, and the outcomes are really spectacular, we’ve got to turbocharge that delivery.”

The full interview can be read here (for some readers this may be behind a paywall).


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Old Mrs Landlord

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13:30 PM, 7th October 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Keith Williams at 07/10/2023 - 11:53Are you forgetting that every year another tranche of youngsters reaches the age when they need to fly the parental nest and far fewer old renters leave to care homes or the grave? That's not to mention the net imbalance between emigration and immigration. There are thousands living with parents or in HMOs or whose family expands forcing them to move to a home with more bedrooms who each year manage to save enough for a deposit to move onto or up the rental ladder, never mind the renting couples who splir up and need two properties instead of one.

Chris @ Possession Friend

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13:34 PM, 7th October 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Old Mrs Landlord at 07/10/2023 - 13:30
... and lets not forget the 200 k rooms deemed too small for those only able to afford smaller rooms, have been removed from the market by Govt Minimum room size meddling in the marketplace.

If tenants only realised ( and perhaps Landlord groups need to be more media-savvy ) the source of their current predicament was not Landlords, but politicians.
Fuelled of course by so-called tenant groups proclaiming to act in tenants best interests !

JeggNegg

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13:41 PM, 7th October 2023, About A year ago

The comment made re fixed mortgages and the benefit that gives the landlord.
Did the tenant participate in the process of advising the landlord to apply for a fixed mortgage? Unlikely
So why should the tenant benefit from the landlords business decision
There is a possibility that anyone taking a 5 year fixed rate mortgage now in 3 years might be regretting it as interest rates might be much lower. It’s a business decision and most tenants choose not to aspire to become landlords. I believe a tenant chooses to Leave home, or rent in the private sector or the social sector. If a tenant were to lease a new car on a 4 year contract what happens when they miss a monthly payment? I guess some legal action is made to rectify the breach of contract.
Yes it’s is a 4 year contract re repayment but a tenancy is not it’s likely to be a fixed rent for 1 year and then reviewed annually. Why is it so hard for people to understand. If tenants want something different then don’t sign a 1 year contract.

Chris @ Possession Friend

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13:58 PM, 7th October 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by JeggNegg at 07/10/2023 - 13:41
Ultimately, its a free market, property ( such that is available ) is offered for rent, to be accepted or not.

Councils who make their own business decision that building and providing Council houses for rent, isn't financially viable, ( but choose to invest Council-Tax payers money into commercial property ) is not the fault of Private landlords

Gromit

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14:03 PM, 7th October 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Bryan Abercrombie at 07/10/2023 - 11:05
Average property prices in West Yorkshire are c.£200k. and 25% of properties at less than £150k.

Who in their right mind would spend 25-50% of the property market value?
And. economically illerate politicians

JeggNegg

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14:11 PM, 7th October 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Gromit at 07/10/2023 - 14:03
possibly a non business thinking council.
i wonder who proposed and seconded this ungrade?
i wonder how many tenders were obtained before work commenced?
i am so so glad i dont live in west yorkshire.

Russell Cartner

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14:57 PM, 7th October 2023, About A year ago

All these comments, but has anyone actualy complained to Local MP.

Anthony Mcardle

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17:03 PM, 7th October 2023, About A year ago

So its the landlords fault for the cost off living crisis,are we exempt from it?we are ment to subsidise it.let me make a suggestion to the mayor.why dont you and all the other do gooders set up a fund out off your wages earnings and donate to the people struggling and use it as SET By EXAMPLE instead off expecting it to come from the landlords pockets

Russell Cartner

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17:16 PM, 7th October 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Anthony Mcardle at 07/10/2023 - 17:03
email her teel her what you think of her mayoral.enquiries@westyorks-ca.gov.uk

Zen

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17:24 PM, 7th October 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Russell Cartner at 07/10/2023 - 14:57
I will email her, Russell, when I thought about what to write. I'm in West Yorkshire 👍

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