Landlords attack Government plans
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The National Landlords Association (NLA), the leading
representative body for private residential landlords in the UK,
has roundly condemned government plans which it says will reduce
the supply of shared housing.
Housing and planning minister John Healey has revealed plans
which will require planning permission for new shared housing where
three or more unrelated people live together.
Twenty per cent of private rented sector properties are now
shared, a figure which is rising year on year.
Houses of multiple occupation play a vital role in providing
much needed housing for students, young professionals and those on
low incomes who rely on this type of affordable accommodation, says
the NLA.
Large cities across the UK greatly depend on shared housing as a
first step.
By making it more difficult and costly for landlords to provide
this type of accommodation, the measures will reduce choice for
tenants and increase pressure on local authority housing lists.
The Rugg Review, an independent review of the private-rented
sector commissioned by the government, has already dismissed the
changes to the planning system as an "extreme response" which local
authorities are ill-equipped to handle.
The statement also outlines proposals to give councils general
consent to introduce licensing schemes without seeking permission
from central government in so-called hotspot areas.
The current rules require local authorities to justify to the
secretary of state the need for any new licensing scheme.
The NLA says these proposals will result in a NIMBYs' charter
which will create no-go areas for landlords, students, young
professionals, low-income families, migrant workers and a wide
range of other groups who rely upon shared private rented sector
housing.
David Salusbury, chairman of the NLA, said: "The government has
bowed to a small minority who shouted the loudest.
"It has ignored the vital role these homes play in contributing
to vibrant and mixed communities.
"These plans will do nothing to improve housing or increase
choice for tenants but are more about placating local protest
groups in certain parts of the country.
"If the government was really interested in dealing with
anti-social behaviour and property standards in the small minority
of places where they are an issue, they would have taken up the
NLA's calls for more targeted local management action by councils
working with landlords in their areas."
Thursday, February 11 2010
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