Tag Archives: renting

Mark Valladares

1 July 2020 – the overnight press release

By Mark Valladares | Wed 1st July 2020 - 7:30 am

Govt must end debt crisis for renters to avoid homelessness trebling in 2020

Responding to a report by Generation Rent, which has found that ‘homelessness is set to treble this year … as a result of the economic shock of coronavirus’, Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson Tim Farron said:

The fact that homelessness is set to treble this year is yet more proof that the consequences of the pandemic are set to be devastating for those struggling to get by. The Government must take action now to stop these statistics becoming a reality.

This Conservative Government seem content to ignore the realities of the

…

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NewsHound

LibLink: Olly Grender: The sooner the Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law, the sooner tenants get a fair deal

By NewsHound | Fri 21st December 2018 - 11:55 am

A bill going through its final parliamentary stages cuts letting agents’ fees for tenants. This is down to the hard work of Lib Dem Peers, mainly Olly Grender. She writes for Politics Home about what this will mean for people:

When I first proposed this change in 2016 through a Private Member’s Bill, it was a flat “no” from the Conservative Government.  However, they could not keep ignoring the overwhelming evidence that people on low incomes or benefits who were renting privately were being ripped off with shocking admin fees.

The worst part is that families who are evicted or cannot afford a rent rise are pushed into homelessness by the astronomical up-front admin fees.  The option to move is not feasible, as even when they try to move to a cheaper home, agents were charging both landlord and tenant these up-front fees. With homelessness continuing to rise, and the leading cause being the end of a private rented sector tenancy, it is clear reform is needed – and fast. This is why this Bill is so vitally important. The double dip with both landlord and tenant being charged these extortionate fees will soon be a thing of the past and this change in the law cannot come soon enough.

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Tom Brake

Tom Brake MP writes…It’s time to reform renting

By Tom Brake | Fri 29th April 2016 - 7:40 pm

Recently at my surgery I met a distressed young woman who came to see me with her mother. Repairs are outstanding on their rented property. The landlord is refusing to sort them out while at the same time putting pressure on them to leave their flat. She didn’t know where to go or what to do.

This is a familiar story and it is no exaggeration to say that we have a national emergency in housing. There are vast numbers of people living in fear and uncertainty and in 2016 that is simply unacceptable.

We clearly have a rental sector which is broken. Many people are spending over half their disposable income on rent and yet a third of homes fail to meet the Government’s decent homes standard, with over 60% of renters having experienced either damp, mould, leaking roofs or windows, electrical hazards, animal infestation or gas leaks, according to a recent survey commissioned by Shelter.

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