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Labour

Thu 18 May 2017

A Department for Housing would be created by a new Labour government, with rent caps, three year tenancies and yet more regulation all part of its plans for the Privat Rented Sector.

Labour’s election manifesto includes a raft of housing policies which could have disastrous impacts on the Private Rented Sector.

The document pledges to:

  • Make three year tenancies in the private rented sector standard across the sector, with rent caps linked to inflation;
  • Give the Mayor of London new powers to provide additional security for tenants in the capital given the unique pressures tenants here face;
  • Introduce new legal minimum standards to ensure private rented homes are fit for human habitation with new measures to empower tenants to take action where their properties are not up to scratch;
  • Scrap the so called ‘bedroom tax’;
  • Reverse the decision to cut housing benefit payments for those aged 18 to 21;
  • Establish a new Department for Housing;
  • Insulate more homes with a consultation also on preventing ‘rabbit hutch’ homes;
  • Implement new minimum space standards for new housing developments; and
  • Draft a new national plan to address the problem of homelessness.

 

It is believed that by introducing these policies Labour is in very real danger of crashing the sector – which will do nothing to help the families and vulnerable people renting homes that the party wants to support and protect.