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The new housing minister is a landlord - and has already attracted criticism from some sections of the media.
Yesterday Chris Pincher MP was removed as housing minister after almost exactly two years in the job.
He’s being replaced by the hitherto low-profile Stuart Andrew who takes up the ministerial position at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Andrew has been MP for the Pudsey constituency in West Yorkshire since 2010 and until yesterday was deputy chief whip. He has also previously held parliamentary under-secretary roles in the Welsh Office and the Ministry of Defence.
Prior to entering the Commons, Andrew led the fundraising team for Martin House Hospice.
Andrew owns a house in Leeds which brings in more than £10,000 a year in rental income according to the MPs’ register of interests.
The Mirror newspaper has discovered that in 2016 Andrew voted against an amendment to legislation to make all rented homes "fit for human habitation".
The amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill was voted down 312-219 with ministers of the day saying the amendment would cause "unnecessary regulation and cost to landlords", and councils "already have strong and effective powers" to police poor-quality homes.
Pincher’s departure comes just as the long awaited Renters Reform White Paper nears completion; however in recent months the other housing minister, Eddie Hughes, has been the lead on that major policy issue.
It is not known whether the long-awaited Regulation of Property Agents reform of the sales and lettings side of estate agency - already three years in the making - will now be delayed further.
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I doubt it but, maybe some kind of fairness could return if this guy is a fellow landlord. Trouble is if my fantasy was correct they change people in this post as regularly as rogue tenants change their underwear.
He'll be gone in six months, I reckon. Although he'd struggle to do less than Pincher in the role, who appeared to do absolutely nothing of note and was more interested in a shadow whipping operation to save Boris Johnson. Not surprising he's now become a whip.
He will be in place a long time if he waits for some of my tenants to change their underwear.
It is not Rocket Science, More regulation, Costs and Taxation of Landlords, = Higher Rents and More homelessness.
The council waiting lists, and Rents have never been higher.
Lets hope his tenants stop paying rent, get a load of pets and the neighbours complain of ASB. &
L.A. serve him Fixed penalty for Environmental rubbish dumped -
Maybe he'll become more familiar with the problems facing landlords ? ;-)
I hope his property is a Victorian terrace with an EPC E!
😂
Agree Tricia - It is this with which he needs to give a lot of attention too, or it will come back and bite the govt and all the councils.
A few years ago I had a chat with Stuart Andrews about our position as landlords re section 24. I asked him where are all the tenants/people your constituents going to live when I’m forced to sell? Nice enough guy but all he could say is ‘the ministers don’t get it but he would write a letter’
I had an appalling meeting with Rachel Reeve too and she wasn’t the slightest bit bothered about where tenants will live other than ‘I’m sure they will find other accommodation’ More interested in how many of my tenants received HB
That’s interesting Jahan. In what capacity did you make these contacts? We need people to engage with them. I imagine your response to the “I’m sure they will find somewhere else to live” must have been incredulity and “is t that attitude what’s got us in this mess in the first place”?
What did you expect to happen? They are not bothered. I'm amazed that people still act as though we live in a democracy with a transparent system.
@Dominic Tighe.
Engage as much as you like, you are wasting your time and your breath. People talk about the mess we're in, the problems we have put forward solutions that are common sense and obvious, then don't understand why these simple measures aren't taken. The answer is obvious.... they are NOT bothered. They will do whatever benefits them, both personally and professionally, and the small number that don't simply get removed. Why do people continue to act like we're in a democratic system and that these people are here to serve us?
2016 was a very, VERY different time. This is the 20th Housing Minister since 1997, and Andrew, just like all the others will either fall in line for the sake of his career, or be removed.
How cynical and how right
Hi Dominic, I met with them as a member of public at their surgeries. Rachel Reeves rep refused my request at first as I didn’t live in the area. I responded it involved a dozen of her constituents living positions. She came across as sly really asking what was I concerned about. I responded ‘you don’t need to worry about me I’m alright I’ve got other business interests’ but that she should be concerned where tenants with children were going to live if they were unable to afford to purchase a property. She was of the opinion similar wording ‘I’m sure they will be fine if you sell’ I said ok but now I know that you know what’s going to happen in the future. She then wanted to know if I let to HB tenants and even said ‘How do you make sure they pay the rent rather than spending HB elsewhere’
True story
Well done for taking the initiative. Each attempt helps to get the message across. Someone’s got to try because our associations are failing miserably. Her responses to you just sum up why we are where we are. Literally no idea!! Just playing politics and is completely ill informed.
And, of course, as soon as he opens his mouth in any way that can be seen as supporting landlords there'll be screams to sack him as he's obviously biased!
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