28^th Sep 2015

Barking and Dagenham council has entered into the sector to privately rent ‘homes’ to employed tenants, to help ease the housing crisis.

The council has bought a private development consisting of 144 homes from a construction company. It is going ahead to rent out the homes in October at levels considerably below the market rate.

Some of the homes will be kept back for social housing; however the council felt that it would be better to combat the wider housing shortage.

People who earn below £66,000 will be able to register for a one or two bedroomed property and those who earn up to £80,000 will be eligible for a three or four bedroomed ‘home’.

Needless to say the plan is being latched onto by the local communities as the council has over 1,000 people already on their books for the properties.

It is stating that the homes will be rented out at 80% of the market rate within the London borough, and assures the public that the surplus of money from the rents will be ploughed back into more housing.

Barking and Dagenham hopes that their plan will encourage other councils to ‘compete’ with private landlords, rather than the historic relationship of paying them to house council tenants.

There have been complaints about the plan as critics say that the council wants middle class tenants. A council spokesperson states it is not adopting a ‘social engineering’ stance towards the type of renters.

The spokesperson said: “It is an innovative way of trying to do something for Generation Rent. It is about aspirational workers, it is certainly not gentrification. It’s about young professionals who need a decent home but can’t afford the market rents which have rocketed in London.”


News Archive »