Homelessness Reduction Bill Will Help Landlords And Tenants

Who knows whether Flick Drummond and Alan Mac, our local MPs, were influenced by the PDPLA's plea for support delivered by our own Tony Athill, but on Friday (28/10) they helped vote the Bill on to its next stage. If and when enacted, the bill will stop our Local Authorities advising tenants issued with a section 21 repossession order to sit it out and make us get a court order and perhaps even employ bailiffs.

(Note the picture above was taken recently outside the council offices in Portsmouth's Guildhall Square - all other photos in this article were taken in the same vicinity)

They will also have to give support to tenants threatened with eviction earlier and extend that support to single, less vulnerable people. It is hoped that when the Local Authorities stop obstructing the lawful repossession of property where a tenancy has failed or where the landlord needs to sell or carry out major works more landlords will consider renting to the vulnerable and those on low incomes. A change in Local Authority policy will certainly make renting to benefits claimants a safer bet, but as many of the MPs in the debate pointed out, a large proportion of the evictions are caused by LHA (housing benefit) not keeping pace with market rents.

Throughout the debate it was nice to see a lack of the usual rowdy behaviour in the House of Commons but this bill does have all party support.

We just have to hope that the Government"s extra funding promised to local authorities to support the proposed measures is adequate. It is hoped that the burden will be eased by a reduction in expensive emergency accommodation as earlier intervention by the Local Authority avoids a sudden crisis when the bailiff arrives.

Government plans to prevent the use of bedrooms under 6.5 sq m and the requirement for more HMOs to be licensed will increase the workload on Housing Options and Private Sector Housing or the equivalent groups in each local authority. We have some work to do there, see other article.

It will take some time for the Bill to be made law. PCC are already reviewing their policy on advice to tenants. We hope that the universal support for a change in their approach will encourage them to accept the Government backed measures before they have to by law.

Flick Drummond spoke in support of the bill and Alan Mac was there. 31 MPs spoke supporting the Bill and one against.

Mrs Drummond praised the work of PCC Housing Options and the Roberts Centre. She seemed to think her constituents had to stick it out.
"My concern is they have to go all the way to the point of eviction before the local authority can help them" This is not the case - simply the current practice of local authorities in spite of guidance to the contrary from central government. She made a plea for care leavers to be supported to the age of 25 which we fully support.

It does not look like any major changes will be made at committee stage as the bill has already undergone pre legislative scrutiny by the CLG select committee. The obligation for the LA to provide accommodation for those they do not currently have a statutory duty to house that was in a previous draft has been removed.

We have had a reply from Caroline Dinenage in which she suggests that homelessness is falling, We have attempted to correct her misinformed comments.

If in the mean time you have any tenants who, as a result of a valid section 21, are given advice to sit it out by anyone please let us know immediately.

For more info read
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37797693

If you are interested in the detail of the bill see it here.

The debate is viewable at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b080xllq/house-of-commons-28102016
(but after the first 3 speeches that took the first hour all the important stuff had been said.)
Mrs Drummand is 3 hrs 31 mins in. She did not need our 3 examples as she had 3 from recent surgeries - it confirms the extent of the problem locally.

The PDPLA are not taking credit for the bill but...   A couple of years ago, one of our committee, when invited to the RLA / Tory conference lunch in Brum,  sat next to Bob Blackman's wife, a typical landlord, and discussed eviction problems. The detail is long forgotten, but she did say she would have to lobby her husband about the problems. He introduced the bill and is on the CLG select committee that is supporting it.