Many private sector landlords see social housing tenancies as a higher risk than traditional rentals, and rising rents in the open private market also make the private market more appealing financially. However, Milton Keynes Council is hoping to change that perception in a desperate attempt to get more private landlords to work with them.
The council is keen to work with private landlords across the area and sees the relaunch of its Enhanced Private Sector Leasing Scheme as just one of many ways that the two sectors can work in partnership.
The council can assist landlords by leasing out their accommodation and providing a full management service or finding suitable tenants for empty properties to let.
The scheme offers a range of benefits to good private landlords in return for them leasing their property to the council.
The main benefits are:
A guaranteed rent every month (10% above local housing allowance level)
A full management service
No service or administrative charges
Repairs completed
Gas safety checks carried out each year
Cllr Nigel Long said: “On January 13 we had 619 homeless households in temporary accommodation. Many of these are in properties outside of Milton Keynes. We want to bring them home to Milton Keynes, but we need local good quality landlords to work with the council.
“We want good quality private landlords to work with the council so that their properties can be used to house local families with children in Milton Keynes.
“Whilst this is not a solution to the housing crisis the city faces, it is a further step in trying to keep homeless families closer to the communities they come from and closer to the schools their children go to.”
To view the Local Housing Allowance rates offered by Milton Keynes Council - click here.
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After the horse had bolted comes to mind.
If councils really wanted to work with landlords they would do away with charging council tax on void periods when the property is empty and give up any idea of licensing.
Council works with private landlords to help the homeless who were probably made homeless by a private landlord who served them a s.21. Ironic isn't it. Wouldn't it be 'funny' if the private landlord ended up being the same one in each case! Answer: no, it wouldn't. It would a tragic manifestation of so much that is wrong with housing in England.
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