2nd
Mar 2021
A Conservative MP is adding his support to landlords who are furious at the news that a local council is going to charge them a £700 licence fee for each property.
The MP for Rochford and Southend East James Duddridge, says: “Southend Council already has the powers to tackle rogue landlords, and I am afraid this proposal is just a tax on the town’s good landlords.
“It will deincentivise new landlords from coming to the marketplace and give a reason for existing landlords to get out of the sector.
“This will lead to a reduction in the number of properties available to rent in Southend and in turn push up rent prices for residents.
"I am sure the council’s intentions are good, but this proposal will just drive the very behaviours they are hoping to avoid.”
His comments were reported in the Southend Echo newspaper after the dispute between the local landlord group and the council became public.
Southend council intends to charge private rented sector landlords £700 per property selective licence fee, however in the council’s consultation the landlord group says the manner in which the questions were phrased together with the answers were risible and extremely leading.
Local landlord Judith Codarin, says: “There were questions with basically one answer like would you like to improve your home and would you like less antisocial behaviour? There is only one answer to questions like that. No one is going to say they want worse housing and more antisocial behaviour.
“We’ve tried to move forward on this but the way they have done it is totally political. Everyone wants these things but the way it is being pushed through is very inappropriate timing when we are all trying to catch up with issues around the pandemic.”
Richard Merrick of PIMS, said: “ This is typical of many councils that are desperate because of depleted funds through a variety of reasons. What is so ridiculous by imposing this short-sighted ‘cash-cow scheme’ will end up with less rentable housing stock which will cost the authority in benefits far more than this ‘veiled’ scheme to improve landlord’s properties.”
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