Agenda item

Motion submitted by Councillor Hoy with regards to Central Government consultation on two measures in the private rented sector.

Councillor Hoy presented her motion regarding Government consultation on two measures in relation to the private rented sector.

Members made comments as follows:

·       Councillor Tierney expressed the opinion that landlords are an easy target for people as like other types of professions it is easy to look at them and say big rich landlord preying on the poor tenant and whilst there are some landlords like that the vast majority are not like that, most smaller landlords are those looking to supplement their income in difficult times to boost their pension, make a little extra money and most want to provide a nice home for people to live in. He acknowledged that there are obviously bad landlords but a policy must not be made for the worst cases and the best cases forgotten as there are consequences to that and Councillor Hoy pointed out a number of those consequences, with one that he feels she missed was that if you are a landlord and you know you are going to be stuck with someone forever that you cannot make leave whatever happens unless they do set actions then you would be very worried about taking a tenant in and you are going to want the best references, the best background, which is fine for those people who have these. Councillor Tierney questioned what about the people who need a chance and the people who have for one reason or another have made a mistake in the past and have moved on or have fallen on hard times and it looks bad on their references, they will be unable to rent a house because it will be too frightening to let them in so basically locking people out of housing forever which will place a huge burden on the public sector, there would not be the space or the place for them to live, which he feels it is a terrible idea. He expressed surprise that a Conservative Government has pushed on this, property rights are fundamental to him as a Conservative but just as a human being wanting people to be able to find an affordable place to live without having to roll through a thousand levels of bureaucracy created by making it so difficult to be a landlord is not a country he wants to live in and he hopes that members will support this motion today.

·       Councillor Patrick agreed with Councillor Tierney that people should be given a chance but what he would actually like to see is that put into operation because all too often people fall by the wayside and he knows from personal experience do not get that chance as when they go to get on the housing list there is no opportunity for them as they are barred due to what has happened for six years. He feels that ways of dealing with this need to be looked at and may be this is something that the Council should be looking at in the future.

·       Councillor Boden stated that the one word he heard Councillor Hoy use which is relevant is balance and there does need to be a balance between the interests of tenants and the interests of landlords. He expressed the view that if that balance goes too far in the wrong direction then the losers will be the tenants as if you over-regulate and over-charge through the requirements that exist for landlords you will end up with a position where there just will not be the supply of rented properties for tenants. Councillor Boden made the point it is not as though the country has not been here before as Government made this sort of mistake previously referring to the National Dock Labour Scheme set up to protect the interests of dock workers which went too far and actually made the dock owning companies uncompetitive only covering the large ports so the very small ports had a massive competitive advantage and took an enormous amount of business away from the large ports and dock workers lost their jobs as a result and he feels that Government is in danger of doing the same here as far as private landlords are concerned. He feels it is really important that tenants have their rights respected and that action is taken against rogue landlords and he is delighted that, with Councillor Hoy’s leadership on this issue politically, the Council has been taking strong action against rogue landlords in Fenland, but just because some landlords are rogue there is no reason to say that the whole private rented sector is rotten as it is not, there is a service that is provided and a need that is satisfied and it is in danger of being regulated so that it becomes far smaller than it is now.

·       Councillor Booth referred to what will happen with the supply and demand with people thinking that if properties are not rented that they will go into the private housing ownership sector and he is not sure that this would be the case but feels what the Government is trying to do is attempting to crack down on these rogue landlords, which is believed to be around 20% of landlords. He recognised the work the Council has done with its Enforcement Policy to use the powers available to it but feels it should have been implemented years ago. Councillor Booth expressed reservations, he can see what the Government is trying to achieve by removing the Section 21 and potentially changing the way that tenancies are dealt with in the future. He can see issues with the EPC standard improvements, with the Government expecting improvements but are not willing to help, which is a role Government should be there to assist and he feels that this country is probably one of the worst for home insulation and with the issue around energy costs at the moment it is something that should be tackled as a national crisis. Councillor Booth made the point that it is only a white paper at this stage and it does not mean it is going to be legislation but this is the opportunity for people to raise valid concerns.

·       Councillor Mrs French expressed the view that balance is what is needed as there are some very good landlords and some landlords have contacted her, none of which are councillors, concerned that if this does happen they may have to sell their properties. She fully supports the motion.

·       Councillor Hoy in summing up stated that she understands Councillor Booth’s concerns but there is no hard evidence to say someone might sell if these changes happen. She stated that previously from working in the private rented sector she knows where rents come in and that landlords are already working to tight margins before tax changes came in and previous energy changes so it has been one piece of legislation after another and she is particularly worried about the cumulative effect of it. Councillor Hoy stated that the Council has the powers to prosecute landlords as it is, whilst not perfect, the Government do not always look at right solutions they look at what they think is potentially the easy solution. She agrees with the comments of Councillor Patrick regarding taking a chance on people and if options are being taken away people are not going to get a chance.

·       Councillor Booth asked Councillor Hoy for assurances that the unintended consequences be stressed in the Council’s consultation response.  Councillor Hoy stated that she was happy to do this.

Proposed by Councillor Hoy, seconded by Councillor Mrs French and AGREED that the DHLUC be written to expressing the Council’s concerns and asking them to reconsider the changes to the EPC and Section 21.

(Councillors Benney, J Clark, Connor, Mockett, Purser and Sutton declared that they are landlords and whilst recognising the advice given and that the Council is not the ultimate decision maker did not feel that it was appropriate to take part in this item which could potentially affect landlords.  They left the room for the duration of the discussion and voting thereon)

(Councillor Yeulett left the meeting at 5.08pm following this item)