Showing posts with label landlords. Show all posts
Showing posts with label landlords. Show all posts

Sunday 1 October 2023

Brent Renters put a passionate and powerful case to Brent Council for action on health hazards in the private rented sector

 

 

In a unique event in Brent, around 100 people gathered in Willesden yesterday to negotiate the demands of Brent Private Renters for action by Brent Council against landlords who failed to remedy damp and mould in their properties. The meeting was a mixture of a detailed questioning akin to a Scrutiny Meeting, and a US style Town Hall meeting with passionate testimonies by renters about their treatment at the hands of their landlords and Brent Council officers.

One contributor said that this was an attempt to hold the council to account and to their credit Muhammed Butt, Leader of the Council and Cllr Promise Knight, Lead member for Housing, took on the challenge. It is a strategy that other campaigns may do well to sdopt.

The councillors and representatives from Brent Renters sat around a large table on the stage and the lively audience witnessed the proceedings from the floor. The recording below gives you a taste - it is dark because slides were projected to show the evidence that had been gathered.

 

 Images of damp and mould projected on the wall

It was clear that Brent Renters had managed to organise a very broad cross-section of the community and I was struck by the passion and eloquence of the several Somali women who spoke, sometimes in Somali, with controlled righteous anger about their experiences.

Brent Renters had set out the basic facts and their demands:

Most of the Private Rented housing stock in Brent is old and very badly maintained. 65.7% is preWWII (relating to more than 100,000 residents), much of that 19th century. Landlords have no incentive to do repairs when the power to evict is so great, the demand is so high, and the punishment is so lacking.

 

The council estimates that 10,108 family homes have a serious health hazard in them, In the areas with the most dangerous housing (those that a selective licensing scheme has just been agreed within - Willesden Green, Dollis Hill, and Harlesden and Kensal Green) the council aims to deal with at most 10% of the most serious hazards this year.

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In the vast majority of the borough (everywhere outside Wembley Park) 1 in every 5 private rented homes contains a serious danger to the health and safety of tenants, more than double the London average (9%).

 

In the worst wards, there are an estimated 2374 properties with at least one Category 1 hazard. The council’s plans for this year involve dealing with 250 hazards of any severity- many properties have multiple hazards, and many hazards are category 2, so in fact the council is likely to make far less than 10% of these properties free from serious risk this year.

 

It’s outrageous that many of us are paying £2000 a month in rent to get asthma and mould poisoning - our housing shouldn’t make us sick.

 

We are all paying the price for dangerous housing. Because landlords aren’t reinvesting rental income into maintaining their properties, taxpayers are footing the NHS bill for the health problems they are causing. We can’t go through another winter like the last - our children deserve better.

 

Poor housing cost the NHS £340 million last year. The average cost of dealing with damp in a property is £3590 (BRE report). The total annual cost to the NHS is over £38 million, which would be paid back within 7 years were damp to be remediated. The total annual cost to society of damp is £96 million, which would be paid back within 2.8 years.

 

Brent Council must:

 

      Agree a timeline with the London Renters Union for dealing with the 10,000 unsafe private rented homes in Brent, and recruit the staff to do it.

      Ensure that Environmental Health cases can never be closed before sending a report on what has been done to the tenant and confirming it with them.

      Make interpretation available for the PRS enforcement team, especially in,  Arabic, Somali, Portuguese, Romanian, Urdu and Hindi.

      Inspect ALL properties where a landlord has applied for a licence within 1 year, instead of 50% over 5 years.

      Issue Improvement Notices that protect us from eviction while dealing with disrepair, and fine the landlords that refuse to fix up.

 

The renters wanted faster action on the Category 1 homes that include a danger to life and pointed out that many homes have multiple hazards at Category 2. Renters spoke out about their own illnesses and those of their children as a result of damp and mould and the sometimes unhelpful assessments that has been made. One example was a claim by officers that the condition of one property was due to 'condensation' when they had been sent video of a leak.

 


 

Responding Cllr Butt referred to government cuts in council funding and £18m savingsthe council had to make. Cllr Knight said that the council were going to increase the number of enforcement officers by double the existing number (12 instead of 4) which would enable more inspections to be made.  Cllr Butt said that rather than instantly fine landlords they had to give them the chance to remedy defects.

Renters said that upping the number of fines would raise funds that the council could reinvest in enforcement, creating an income stream enabling employment of more enforcement officers. At present monies raised were not reinvested in the service. They also suggested an extension of landlord licensing across the borough and a higher licensing charge in line with other boroughs (£640 vs £750).  Muhammed Butt said the 2024-25 budget was in the first stages of drafting and without promising anything he would look at the possibiltiies.

It was clear from the contributions that intimidation from landlords and threat of eviction if they complained was a real problem. If evicted, homeless families then had to deal with housing officers who had a huge workload. The council was urged, 'Put more people out there so officers  are not so over-stretched that they treat people badly.'

At present the licensing system covers only three wards: Harlesden and Kensal Green, Willesden Green and Dollis Hill. Renters wanted to see the number increased but Prmise Knight said that this would have to be agreed by the Secretary of State. She urged that residents provide evidence to the council to help them make their case.

800 people have signed the Brent Renters petition and this shows the strength of feeling. One renter summed up, 'People have complained and feel like Brent Council doesn't listen to them. Perhaps, here today, maybe they are listening.'

LINK TO THE PETITION


After the meeting London Renters commented on what they had gained from the meeting:

What did we win in our negotiation? 

🔰 A plan with targets on dealing with Category 1 hazards and unsafe homes for borough-wide licensing by the end of the year 

🔰 A commitment to a pilot project in Harlesden and Kensal Green, Willesden Green and Dollis Hill, including increasing current targets for dealing with unsafe homes.

🔰 Council leader Butt to talk to finances side of council about increasing enforcement capacity, and whether income from fines can be included to increase budgets. 

🔰 Improvement notices to be issued every time there is a Category 1 hazard!

🔰 Interpretation to be offered for main languages so that people can access the Private Housing Service and complain, and forms reworked in plain English.

🔰 An aim to ensure that cases are not closed before speaking to the tenant, by discussing with senior officers and creating a concrete plan.


Friday 2 October 2015

Fly-Tipping in Brent - Has the Task Force addressed the important issues?

Scrutiny Committee will be deciding the scope of the Fly-Tipping Task Force at its meeting on October 8th.  I get more complaints about fly-tipping than any other issue in Brent as do most councillors.

Does the Scoping Report cover the most important aspects of the problem?


Thursday 12 December 2013

Brent's housing crisis in figures

Shelter has issued the latest figures on housing need which are for the third quarter of 2013. Full data is available HERE

I have made a table for the main figures for Brent below:


London Borough of Brent
Quarter 3 2013
Quarter 2 2013
Families with children accepted as homeless
72
40
Households accepted as homeless
155
113
Households found to be homeless but not in priority need
63
33
Households found to be ‘intentionally homeless’
12
18
Households in temporary accommodation
3,410
3,484
Number of children in temporary accommodation
5,729
5,837
Households with dependent children in temporary accommodation
2,640
2,692
Possession claims issued by landlords
655
535
Possession claims by mortgage lenders
83
59

Sunday 14 July 2013

Does this report REALLY tackle Brent's housing crisis?

Click on image to enlarge
A report going before the Brent Executive on Monday July 15th lays bare the extent of Brent's housing extent and how it has been exacerbated by the Coalition's changes to benefits.

The graph shows that Brent has been much more affected by landlords ending tenancies than our neighbouring boroughs. 47%of homeless acceptances in 2012-13 were homeless due to the ending of a private letting in the wake of the changes in the Local Housing Allowance. The private rented sector itself continues to grow with 31,784 households living in private rented accommodation in the 2011 Census, compared with 17,043 in 2001. The sector accounted for 28.8% of Brent households.

Unmet demand for housing assistance stands at 10,366 households. This excludes those on Band D who are assessed by the Council Allocations Scheme as having no housing need.

Current demand on the Housing Register, including the homeless in temporary accommodation and those on the Transfer list is just over 19,000 households. In contrast the Council expect to make just 844 lettings of permanent social housing tenancies by the end of 2013-14.


These are allocated thus:

Looking ahead the Report notes the pressures that will be experienced:

1. Local Housing Allowance changes will continue to impact and make it harder for the Council to procure private rented accommodation as landlords will be unwilling to 'engage with tenants in recipet of benefits'.
2. The changes in LHA payable to single people under 35, which limits payment to a single room in a shared house, will mean they will find it increasingly difficult to find accommodation in the private rented sector.
3. From 12th August 2013, over a five week period, the Overall Benefit Cap will limit the total amount of benefit payable to a non-working couple or a single parent to £500 per week, and £350 per week for a non-working single person. The OBC was expected to impact on 2,700 Brent households, but some have taken measures so as to be exempted and the DWP assesses the total as 2,267 now. The bulk of these are in temporary accommodation or the private rented sector.
4. The Bedroom Tax will reduce benefit for rent  for social housing tenants by 14% (average £17.50 pw) with one 'spare room; and 25% (average £32.66 pw) for those with two 'spare rooms'.
5. Many households will be making a minimum contribution of Council Tax for the first time when they are also faced with  financial pressure from other welfare reforms.
6. The DWP is predicting that approximately 40% of claimants currently receiving Disability Living Allowance will not qualify to receive the replacement Personal Independence Allowances. The report notes: 'these claimants will be a high priority for receiving support from the council to cope with changes in circumstances' as receipt of DLA by a member of a household previously exempted them from  the Overall Benefit Cap and Council Tax charge.

The consequences of all this, the report says, is that families are likely to live in over-crowded and poor quality accommodation in the borough rather than move out to cheaper and better quality accommodation outside Brent. 'Unscrupulous' landlords may take advantage of families affected by Welfare Reform by refusing to deal with disrepair issues, knowing that the families will be reluctant to report them for fear of losing their accommodation. Brent Council has therefore drafted a Private Housing Action Plan to deal with these issues.

The report confirms actions already approved by the council including:

1. The introduction of fixed term tenancies by the council with partner housing providers determining their own policies as long as they are 'broadly consistent with the council's priorities'.
2 To use Flexible Tenancies (fixed term tenancies at either social or affordable rent) on the same basis as approved for other social landlords.
3. Introductory or starter tenancies of 12 months will be used for all new tenants in concert with fixed-term tenancies as relevant, 'Five years normally but with shorter and/or longer periods for specified groups/circumstances'.
4. Changes in the Allocation Scheme which means the residence qualification is established through living in Brent at the time of application and continually throughout the last five years. (NB this is a tightening of the previous proposal of living in Brent for three of the last five years).
5. The definition of 'living in unsuitable accommodation', which gives priority under the Alllocation Scheme will be tightened so that 'households with only minor disrepair issues are not being given priority for rehousing'.
6. Households who are over crowded by 'just one room' should not automatically be given priority in the new scheme - each case will be considered 'on its individual merits;.

The Mutual Exchange scheme, originally aimed at providing an incentive to 'under-occupiers' to downsize as as a result of the bedroom tax, will be extended to cover for example those over retirement age who are not affected by the current benefit changes.

The maximum payment for someone wishing to downsize would be £1,000 plus assistance wit removal costs and access to a handyman service. Full payment would be made for a 'perfect fit' exchange and pro rata for others.

It does seem to me that while the Private Housing Action Plan to protect private rented tenants is welcome much of the report is really fiddling while Rome burns. Changing definitions and tenancy arrangements is not dealing with the underlying issue which is a shortage of social housing and the failure (cf Quintain Wembley Regeneration, Willesden Green Library development, Queensbury development, and the Bridge Park/Unisys development) to build truly affordable housing.

The full report can be found HERE

Saturday 16 March 2013

Brent housing crisis strategy meeting on Tuesday March 19th

Overcrowding is one response to high rents

A message from Brent Fightback
Everyone is now aware of the deepening crisis in Housing in LondonWe are aiming to bring together people from across our community for a more united response: individuals (especially those with housing problems), Tenants and Residents Associations, housing and advice workers, community and council representatives, trade unions and political organisations.

We want to hold an initial strategy meeting so we can begin to: 
  • build connections and share ideas/ experiences about the challenges that are hitting residents in Brent,
  • discuss what we can do to raise awareness of what all these changes mean,
  • help people who find themselves struggling to cope; make their voice heard and develop strategies to meet these attacks
  • develop a campaign around policies which would begin to meet real housing needs in the borough

We hope you will be able to attend and publicise this meeting to others who may want to be involved:
6.30pm-8.00pm , Tuesday 19th March 2013,
Brent Mencap offices 379-381 High Road, Willesden, London, NW10 2JR

Contacts: Robin Sivapalan, robsivapalan@hotmail.com, 07974 331 053 and Ken Montague, kenmontague@msn.com


(some of) what’s happening now:
·         Inflated rents and house prices, huge shortage of social housing, overcrowding…
·         …reduction in the Local Housing Allowance (housing benefit for private accommodation), the Universal Credit benefit cap… Brent will be the worst affected area if the Universal Credit cap is introduced.
·         …’Bedroom Tax’, charging Council Tax on Benefits, “Affordable” rent being defined as 80% of the market rate….
·         ….Cuts to legal aid, advice, support and language services…
·         …Low pay, rogue landlords and mortgages companies, loan sharks…


Brent Fightback is an alliance of workers and service users campaigning against privatisation and cuts to jobs and services.


Tuesday 20 December 2011

The Green Deal and private landlords - issues raised by Barry Gardiner MP

The issue of the Green Deal on energy and its implementation in private rented accommodation is one that has come up locally. Barry Gardiner MP for Brent North has now received written answers to his questions on the matter as set out below from Hansard:


Barry Gardiner (Brent North, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what process his Department plans to follow to determine whether a landlord has carried out the maximum package of measures funded under the Green Deal or Energy Company Obligation for improving energy efficiency in housing under the provisions of the Energy Act 2011.

Gregory Barker (Minister of State (Climate Change), Energy and Climate Change; Bexhill and Battle, Conservative)
We expect the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will be a key inspection mechanism as it will outline which measures have been installed in the property using the Green Deal and if there are remaining measures which could benefit from Green Deal finance. Local authorities, as the enforcing body for the private rented sector regulations, will have access to this information through the EPC database.

The regulations, including details of the enforcement mechanism, will be subject to a public consultation.

Hansard source (Citation: HC Deb, 19 December 2011, c991W)
 
Barry Gardiner (Brent North, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what measures he plans to put in place to protect tenants from eviction in cases where they request energy efficiency improvements.

Gregory Barker (Minister of State (Climate Change), Energy and Climate Change; Bexhill and Battle, Conservative)
The issue of retaliatory eviction in the context of the Green Deal was raised during the passage of the Energy Act. In response I established a working group to consider stakeholder concerns, and report to DECC and Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Ministers with recommendations. The report is due to be submitted to myself and the Minister for Housing and Local Government, my right hon. Friend Grant Shapps before Christmas.

 Hansard source (Citation: HC Deb, 19 December 2011, c991W)

Tuesday 30 August 2011

Private Tenants Need Protection - Jenny Jones

 
Responding to the National Housing Federation report projecting a decline in home ownership in the UK, Jenny Jones, Green Party Assembly Member and London Mayoral candidate said:
Home ownership in London has been in decline for a decade, dropping from 60% to 52% of households. This means that more and more Londoners rely on one of the most insecure rental sectors in Europe, where tenants are unable to resist rent hikes and are scared to challenge slum landlords.
 
Ireland is more enlightened - after six months you get an automatic right to stay for another three and a half years and landlords need a good reason to evict you. In the UK you can be kicked out with two months' notice and the landlord doesn’t need to give you a reason. We urgently need to protect London's private tenants, whether they live there by choice or because they're priced out of home ownership. 
 

Monday 22 August 2011

Brent Housing Scams Alert

Brent Citizens Advice Bureau issued an alert on housing scams in the current edition of its Newsletter:

Clients are regularly reporting housing scams in Brent, which have a huge impact on vulnerable clients already struggling to make ends meet. Brent CAB is compiling evidence about these scams to help campaign against them. They include problems with landlords, estate agents and letting agencies.

Deposit scams are a frequent issue. Landlords often refuse to pay tenants their deposit back when they move out. They unjustly say the client has damaged the property or that they will pay the deposit back on a specific date. When the date comes, the deposit is not paid back. The landlord provides another date and keeps delaying the process. The landlord is meant to put the deposit into a special deposit account called a payment protection scheme so that they cannot access the money, but they often don’t. This means the client is forced to go to court to get the money back.

Another deposit problem often arises when clients pay their estate agent the deposit to give to the landlord. When the client leaves the property they ask the landlord for the deposit, but the landlord says the estate agent has it, whereas the estate agent says the landlord has it. The client is in a Catch 22 position and will again have to take court action to get their deposit back – this naturally costs time and money.

Letting agencies often do not fulfill their agreements. One of these provided a client with a contract for accommodation and said that work would be done to fix broken appliances by a certain date. After this date the client moved in but no changes had been made, including a shower which was still not working. The agency abdicated responsibility. This happens frequently in Brent.

Some Brent landlords dishonestly put their name on the client's tenancy agreement as a user of the property. This means the tenant has no security of tenure and can be evicted with very limited notice. In houses of multiple occupancy, if the tenant pays in cash and does not get a receipt each time or write it in a rent book, it is also possible they will lose their deposit as a landlord can claim it, saying they did not pay rent on a specific week, where there is no proof of payment.

Brent CAB has Housing Advisers available to help Brent residents with these problems: 270-272 High Road, Willesden, NW10 2EY Advice line: Monday-Friday 9.30am-5.30pm 0845 050 5250