Another week and another Newsround, let’s see what has been in the housing news this week.
Discretionary Housing Payments boosted by government
One good thing to come out of last weeks’ budget but was not very well publicised was that Rachel Reeves has put an additional 1 billion extra money into the discretionary housing payments fund.
Tenants can apply for discretionary housing payments if they are in severe financial difficulty in meeting their rental payments due to unforeseen circumstances and are in need of temporary help. Tenants are often turned down because they do not give all the right information to the council.
Many landlords and letting agents are unaware that this payment exists, and if more were aware then it could be a life line to both them and their tenants by helping them to apply for it.
Councils need to see the following:-
- That the payment will have a lasting impact and help the tenant get to a sustainable solution
- That the need for help is genuine and circumstantial
- By applying early the problem can be resolved before it gets to big
The more help a landlord can give to support their tenants application the better their chance of them receiving it, and it saving your tenancy.
Here at Landlord Law we have a comprehensive link to every councils’ information page on applying for their Discretionary Housing Payment. You can access it here at our Landlord Law Local Authority Directory
Council to help landlords & tenants battle mould
A new campaign backed by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, has been launched by East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Hull City Council and their respective letting agents or landlord to raise awareness in the private rented sector of the risks of damp and mould.
The campaign encourages tenants to report issues of damp and mould directly to their letting agent in the hope that they will be addressed quickly and early. It also offers practical advice on ventilation, extractor fans, cooking and showering condensation, and other damp encroaching activities such as drying washing indoors.
Paul Drake Davis a councillor at Hull City Council said
Damp and mould can affect anyone’s home and must be tackled as soon as possible to safeguard people’s health and also to minimise damage to the property. If you’re a tenant, you must tell your landlord about damp and mould problems as soon as you notice them, and the sooner they will be resolved.
Social housing complaints at an all time high
A shocking new report out from The Housing Ombudsman claims that it has had to make 21,740 interventions to step in and help residents resolve issues that they have raised with their social housing provider.
Complaints included social housing providers not dealing with damp and mould, repair issues and improving practices, a 329% increase! When they intervened they found maladministration the main cause where landlords have not followed legal requirements or processes. 271 landlords had performance issues up from 163 last year, and 75% of landlords had severe maladministration involving poor communication, complaint handling and record keeping.
Richard Blakeway of The Housing Ombudsman said
These figures are another stark reminder of the scale of the housing emergency and the urgent need for social housing landlords to improve essential services and some living conditions.
He added that where an issue is not dealt with effectively it has a knock on effect to the tenants’ life with children missing school, bad health and unacceptable living conditions.
Rogue landlords hit with highest ever HMO fine
Three landlords operating a string of eight unsafe and unlicensed HMO’s in Northampton have been given a massive fine by magistrates of £452,796, which is thought to be the highest ever fine topping a fine of £450,000 in 2019.
The councils private sector housing team spent four years following up serious fire safety concerns, inadequate licensing and no maintenance work by using a housing warrant to enable them to gather evidence.
Rosie Herring, a Cabinet member of the housing team said this send a very strong message out to landlords and added
Our private sector housing team has worked tirelessly to ensure tenants have access to safe, secure, and compliant homes, and these penalties reflect the severity of the offences committed. We will continue to pursue and hold accountable those who disregard the law.
Snippets
Landlord and former estate agent becomes shadow housing secretary
Government reveals initiative to build 3,000 rented homes
Shocking failures by social landlords revealed in new report
Generation Rent hires former Labour MP and housing campaigner
See also our Quick News Updates on Landlord Law
Newsround will be back again next week
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