The local media in Yorkshire says Labour’s Rachel Reeves - the Shadow Chancellor - is campaigning for the introduction of a selective licensing regime in her constituency.
Reeves, the MP for West Leeds, is reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post to be in favour of the idea.
A party spokesperson told the paper: “Most landlords in the city and most landlords in [the Leeds suburb of] Armley are doing a great job. They'll be able to meet the criteria and they'll be able to get a licence. What it will cut down on is those rogue landlords, those difficult landlords that cause problems for their tenants. In order for them to get a licence, they'll have to up their game and make sure they're following council policy and doing right by their tenants."
There is already a selective licensing regime in place elsewhere in the city - at Beeston and Harehills - where the fee is £825 per property, with a £150 discount for those landlords in a local accreditation scheme calls Leeds Rental Standard.
The spokesperson continues: “You can walk round Armley and there are a lot of streets where the majority of houses are owned by private landlords and rented out to the public. As councillors, we receive casework and the biggest issue we get in Armley is housing.
“Some of that is people trying to get on the council house waiting list. some of it is issues with the maintenance of council properties, but a lot of it is issues with private properties.
"As councillors, there's very little we can do because we have very little power over these landlords. If they're causing problems for their tenants, there isn't much we can do but I know from speaking to council colleagues in parts of the city where they do have a selective licensing policy, that they've been able to make real progress and improve things for those tenants who are suffering from bad landlords.
“There are certain minimum standards in terms of what they provide tenants with and how they manage the property. I think it's something the tenants of Armley would really benefit from.”
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We are a bank that never says no 💰💰💰, the council’s extra pot of cash 💵💵💵
There will come a point, when even renters will understand that all these “protections” are the things that are really driving up the rents and actually lowering the standard of their accommodation.
£825 per property for selective licensing - absolutely extortionate and it’s this sort of thing that leads to landlords exiting the market and nobody replaces them. If these councils were serious about raising standards, they would be lobbying to remove all these extra costs for landlords. Resulting in more landlords, who would then have to compete for the renters business - and they’d have to raise the standard of their properties to get them filled. But then, the council wouldn’t have the £800 per property of free money then would they?
And if it does truly cost £800 per property to run these schemes, the councils should be thoroughly ashamed of their inefficiency and have no business telling anyone how they should be doing anything because they are woefully incompetent themselves.
I had thought that Rachel talked sense, i have liked a lot of her proposals that she had put forward and thought at last Labour are getting some idea of what is required. However, if this article is true, then my opinion will completely change and will cloud my previous thoughts with regard this would be Chancellor.
It just never ends. When will these morons wake up and think for themselves instead of trying to be popular or whatever they think they are trying to be!
I supposes the answer is that as Politicians realise they are ineffective with regard the important big issues, Putin, Corporations and getting fair tax, sorting out the NHS and the list goes on....therefore they go for us a soft target.
I think Rachel is a very dangerous lady, in more ways than one, she frightens me, defiantly not my kind of girl
Considering the state of politics today they should be paying us
Looks like the rent on my property will be going up again to cover this. It’s unbelievable they all think we are rich. I lose sleep worrying about where I’m going to find the money to pay for these things. What do people think about organising a petition against this. I know many renters will be against it when they realise they are the ones that ultimately will have to pay for it via increased rent.
Sadly Janet but yes, the end user always pays, it's not the greedy landlord, it's the government stabbing us between the shoulder blades, short sighted but the law of unintended consequences, unbelievable how these so called ''educated'' MPs can be so thick
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