Labour Party Calls For Scrapping Of Section 21 And Renters’ Unions

In his speech to the Labour Party Conference John Healey called for a wide range of reforms to the private rented sector, including the establishment of renter’s unions, the introduction of rent controls, and the scrapping of section 21. The plans aim to put power in the hands of tenants through the creation of a £20m fund to set up and support the expansion of renters’ unions which will:

• Provide practical support and information, including experienced representatives accompanying tenants to meetings with landlords

• Support tenants in disputes with landlords

• Give renters a stronger national voice and coordinate national campaigns to demand better conditions and a fairer system.

Read more on the NLA website.

https://landlords.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/labour-party-calls-scrapping-section-21-and-renters-unions

Public Believes Housing Inspections Should Be In Hands Of Council

The majority of the public believes housing safety inspections should be in the hands of local councils, survey reveals. A survey for the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) found 59% of the public support council Building Inspections, and just 23.4% support private inspectors. The poll, which was carried out by market research agency Survation for APSE, was a ‘wake up call to Government’, APSE chief executive Paul O’Brien, told a housing fringe at the Labour Party conference. ‘The public clearly support a role for local councils in keeping residents safe,’ he said. Read more on the Local Gov website.

Corbyn Wants Councils To Deliver 500,000-Home Plan

Jeremy Corbyn wants Labour’s 500,000 ‘social’ homes target to be delivered entirely by local authorities. Shadow housing minister Teresa Pearce told the Labour conference in Liverpool that the party would build 500,000 ‘social’ homes within a parliamentary term. She later said this included housing association homes – with Rent to Buy, shared ownership and social rent all qualifying as “social housing”. However, Inside Housing understands the leader’s office had pushed before the speech for Ms Pearce to refer to “council” housing, and not “social housing” in her speech. Read more on Inside Housing.