24th
Aug 2016
ACORN the campaign group for those people dissatisfied with landlords is spitting feathers over the North Somerset Council’s decision to scrap their licensing scheme in parts of Weston Super Mare.
The group has a long history of organising protest outside lettings agents and is agitating to spearhead more campaigns because of the council’s about face on the scheme.
PIMS recently ran the story about the Council’s U-Turn by killing off their proposed landlord licensing scheme for private renting landlords, when confronted by the Somerset Property Network.
The Network was formed via a Facebook campaign and over 50 landlords signed up and pledged funds to take the council to court. They rallied against the impending £350 charge of a five year licence on each privately rented property in the designated area of Weston.
ACORN is now telling tenants in Weston-Super-Mare to join their campaign of publicly protesting against the council’s decision.
Local newspaper The Bristol Post reports that ACORN has set up a local campaign group and their spokesperson, Alan Rice, asks the question that why did the landlords band together so quickly unless they were scared of something.
He told the paper that 50% of residents in one particular part of Weston Super Mare are tenants of landlords. It claims that that one in three rented properties within the ward have been officially categorised as “non-decent”. Apparently the ward is amongst the worst one per cent all council wards in England.
He asks: “And the landlords say they don't need licensing and they see no deprivation?".
The campaign group states that it was responsible for the Bristol Council increasing its licensing scheme and for introducing the “West of England Rental Standard” that many councils throughout the region signed up to.
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