8th
Feb 2017
The Housing White Paper is being 'trumpeted' by the government as their solution to fixing the UK's ‘broken housing market’, this was supposed to have private landlords as one of its priorities to help ease the crisis.
Sajid Javid, the present Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, explained the main points of the paper to the Commons and the radical overhaul of the PRS did not materialise, as the private renting sector was mentioned just once in his statement.
The first point was to encourage a greater number institutional investors to get involved with the Build to Rent project to increase the number of UK private rented homes.
The White Paper again substantiated the government's intention to ban letting agents' fees: "We will consult early this year, ahead of bringing forward legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows, to ban letting agent fees to tenants. This will improve competition in the market and give renters greater clarity and control over what they pay."
The paper mentioned that over the past ten years the private rented sector had doubled and accounts for nearly 4.3 million 'homes'.
The government is intent on improving standards for tenants with a number of measures which includes: "...to drive up safety and standards in the sector by improving existing commitments to ban rogue landlords, as well as consulting on whether to make electrical safety checks compulsory."
The most 'welcomed' idea within the paper was the introduction of longer term tenancies of three years or longer, this is an attempt to encourage more investment into the Build to Rent project, however there was no mention that standards would be improved for tenants.
Valerie Bannister , head of lettings of a lettings and estate agents chain, said: ‘There is nothing to prevent longer tenancies becoming the norm much sooner, in cases where this fits both the tenant’s and the landlord’s needs. We have seen tenants rent the same property for 20 years on a rolling monthly basis which has suited both the landlord and the tenant without any formality required of a three-year tenancy. In the long term, we want to bridge the gap between renters and landlords and form trusting relationships which are in step with market needs whether a short term let or a longer tenure.’
Richard Merrick of PIMS, said: " The government promised a radical overhaul of the private rental sector and to be honest it is rather a damp squib. Once again it has stated its intentions to ban letting agent fees which in itself may lead to a backward step in improving conditions for tenants and almost certainly will lead to rent increases.
He continued: "The main reason why rent and house prices are on the rise is solely down to successive governments failure in building enough house over the last ten years. However it is criminal that the present government is not taking on the larger 'house builders' who have been granted more and more permission from councils for housing development sites, as they are simply building on a 'go-slow'."
Richard Merrick added :" They are doing this because it increases house prices as the market demand spirals out of the pockets of the public, why doesn't the government act on the large numbers of landbanks across the UK ? The banks of course are only too happy that prices are rising as it increases their stock......and of course some banks 'quietly' support a few political parties."
See the Housing White Paper Here
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