‘Revenge Eviction’ Bill Passed

The House of Lords has passed a law banning so-called ‘revenge evictions’. Passed as part of the Deregulation Bill, the new law will prohibit landlords from evicting tenants who complain about conditions in their homes. Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather attempted to ban revenge evictions with a private members’ bill last year. Though Teather’s attempt failed, the Lords picked it up and tagged it on to the Deregulation Bill. According to housing charity Shelter, over 200,000 renters face revenge evictions every year. Read more on 24dash.

Bill to Stop Revenge Evictions Published

A bill intended to outlaw ‘revenge evictions’ was published yesterday ahead of its second reading on Friday. The Tenancies (Reform Bill), tabled by Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather, is intended to stop private rented sector (PRS) landlords evicting those who complain about repairs or conditions in their homes. The proposed legislation seeks to stop revenge evictions by clarifying when a ‘no-fault section 21 possession notice’ -  an eviction notice when the tenant is not at fault – cannot be served. If a council confirms a tenant’s complaint about poor conditions is genuine or a local authority issues an improvement notice to the PRS landlord a no-fault ‘section 21’ eviction notice cannot be served for six months, the bill says. Read more on Inside Housing.

Government Vows to Outlaw Revenge Evictions

Ministers have given their backing in principle to a Private Member’s Bill to stop rogue landlords who, rather than meet their legal duty to keep their properties at a reasonable standard and remove health and safety hazards, instead evict tenants simply for asking for essential repairs to be made - on the condition that the Bill only targets bad landlords and cannot be used by tenants to frustrate legitimate evictions. Communities Minister Stephen Williams said Sarah Teather’s Bill would help root out spiteful landlords and ensure that hardworking tenants are not afraid to ask for better standards in their homes. The Bill will extend the existing restrictions on a landlord’s power to evict, where they don’t protect a deposit or have a licence they are required to hold, to situations where a health and safety hazard has been identified by environmental health officers. Read more on the CLG website.

MP Aims to Ban Retaliatory Evictions

MP for Brent Central, Sarah Teather is aiming to table proposals in Parliament to stop ‘retaliatory’ evictions for tenants when they make a complaint to landlords. ‘Retaliatory evictions’ have been used to attack landlords recently and the RLA is conducting an independent survey to the reasons landlords evict tenants. MPs supporting tenants argue that security of tenure is at risk, but proposals threaten the role of section 21 notices, crucial for landlords protecting properties. Interestingly, MPs and tenant groups fail to consider the role the tenant may play in these evictions. The RLA has surveyed members regarding ‘retaliatory evictions’. This independent survey has received over 1,500 responses to challenge assertions against landlords. Read more on the RLA website.

Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of how much each local authority returned to his Department in unused discretionary housing payment funding in 2013-14. 

Steve Webb: Local authorities are required to submit their claims for funding for discretionary housing payments by 30 April following the end of the financial year. Until the returns have been received from each authority, we are not in a position to say how much of this funding has been unused.  At the end of the 2012/13 year, of the £67,906,916 made available by central Government towards discretionary housing payments, £12,453,471 (18.34%) was unspent.

Universal Credit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to paragraph 2.66 of the Autumn Statement 2012, what estimate he has made of the number of households that will be exempt from the household benefit cap as a result of the decision to disregard housing payments for those in supported exempt accommodation for the purpose of the benefit cap.

Mr Hoban: Figures approved by the Office for Budget Responsibility estimate that this change will reduce the total amount of households affected by the cap by around 2,000 to 54,000 and reduce the savings by around £10 million to £265 million. While disregarding housing costs for these households does not exempt them per se, there will be very few who remain affected by the cap.

Healey, Shapps & Teather Return to Parliament

Housing Minister John Healey and his Conservative counterpart Grant Shapps were both comfortably returned to parliament in the recent General Election. Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister Sarah Teather was also re-elected. Exactly who will be given the job in the new Government will remain unclear from some time, but Mr Healey will continue in the role for the foreseeable future. Read more on the 24 dash website.

Teather Attacks Labour Over 13 Years Of Housing 'Betrayal'

Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister Sarah Teather has delivered a speech to Spring Conference setting out the party’s plans to bring hundreds of thousands of empty homes back into use. Ms Teather accused Labour of 'betraying' the millions of families stuck in overcrowded accommodation or languishing on housing waiting lists. She said " Just after the election Tony Blair got in his ministerial car and travelled to one of the poorest estates in the country and pledged to stand up for the forgotten people. Labour forgot the forgotten people. They forgot the people who elected them. The record speaks for itself. 1.8 million families languishing on housing waiting lists. Three quarters of a million families in severe overcrowding. One in ten children in my constituency in temporary accommodation.” Read the rest of what Sarah Teather had to say on the 24dash website.

HRA Subsidy Parliamentary Written Answer

Sarah Teather MP (Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Housing): What recent estimate has been made of the likely effect of the proposals in the 2010-11 draft HRA Subsidy Determination on the total net outturn of HRA subsidy for 2010-11?
John Healey MP (Minister for Housing): Any HRA subsidy forecast for a future year can change significantly due to interest rate and stock movement changes, and other information submitted by local authorities through HRA subsidy returns. We will not have data from local authorities to inform estimates of any subsidy surplus for 2010-11 until after the first subsidy claim forms are received at the end of March 2010.

Local Homes For Local People

Liberal Democrat Press Release

Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, Sarah Teather MP has reacted to the Government’s recent announcement of new guidelines on ‘local homes for local people’ by commenting:“This rehashed announcement will do nothing to help the millions of people set to spend this Christmas stuck in temporary accommodation or on the streets. “While Labour and the Tories have spent years squabbling over who should be at the top of the housing queue, that queue has grown longer and longer. “Instead of fiddling around the edges, the Government need to focus on bringing empty properties back into use and building the many new homes that local families need.”