Until theres a home for everyone Conditions in the Private Rented - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Until there’s a home for everyone Conditions in the Private Rented Sector Hannah Gousy, Policy Officer Tuesday, 12 November 2013 1

Outline 1.Conditions in the private rented sector 2.Shelter’s work to improve private renting 3.Selective licensing 2

What do Shelter do?  Shelter is committed to improving the security and conditions for the increasing number of families living in the PRS.  Our aim is to support responsible landlords , educate tenants and expose the small but dangerous minority of rogue landlords who take advantage of their tenants.  We provide online advice pages for tenants. 2.8 million people visited the advice pages last year.  We run a helpline and face to face services . Last year they provided support to more than 100,000 people  Enquiries about private renting make up more than 40% of our advice work- the most common problems are disputes with landlords and problems with poor conditions and disrepair .  We also campaign for wider change to housing policy 3

Why is Shelter concerned?  1 in 5 families now rent— this proportion has doubled in 6 years (1 in 10 rented 6 years ago).  Fewer than 1 in 10 families are renting because they like the freedom and flexibility it gives them  In the last year 28% of families have not had repairs carried out or poor conditions dealt with by their landlord or letting agent.  One million renters say their health has been affected by their landlord failing to make repairs or dealing with poor conditions. 4

Poor conditions in the private rented sector 35% of private rented homes are classified as ‘non-decent’ compared to 22% of owner occupied and 17% of social rented homes. The causes? • Amateur Landlords - The sector is dominated by individual landlords owning one or two properties, who lack awareness of their rights and responsibilities. • High demand markets- few incentives to improve the condition of their stock. 80% of landlords expected to re let their properties if they became vacant tomorrow. Almost 60% of these landlords would expect to re-let at a higher rent and only 1% at a lower rent. • A lack of tenant bargaining power- Tenants often do not report poor conditions for fear of retaliatory eviction or non- renewal of a tenancy. 5

Evict Rogue Landlords Over a third of local  authorities are Tough enforcement action against rogue signed up to landlords, and publicise prosecutions. the campaign  Proactively manage and inspect properties  Adequately resource and support their local enforcement teams.  Educate tenants and landlords of their rights and responsibilities.  Accreditation and licensing schemes. 6

Longer tenancies  2/3 of renters would like to have the option of staying in their tenancy for longer .  4/5 of renters would like to know their rent cannot be increased above a certain level  1 in 10 renting families have had to change their children’s school due to moving .  34% of families who have moved in the past five years said the move strained their finances. 7

Longer tenancies Longer, more secure tenancies can help provide tenants with greater consumer bargaining power to demand better conditions. 8

Is licensing the way forward? Selective licensing is now being used by many local authorities to address problems in the private rented sector.  Helps local authority enforcement officers to identify privately rented properties in their area.  Provides an opportunity for decent landlords to identify themselves, making it easier for local enforcement officers to prioritise identifying and inspecting unlicensed properties.  Allows you to better target services to landlords to improve their practice. 9