Welcome to my blog, Rumbles Blog. The blog of probably the most knowledgable English Bulldog you will ever meet!
This week I’m getting political! I’m showing you just how much an English Bulldog knows about the Private Rented Sector and what affect certain manifesto policies may have for both tenants and landlords.
The Labour manifesto details their plans to outlaw tenant fees and introduce a number of other flawed policies such as rental caps and long-term rental agreements.
These are manifesto policies laid out by Labour in order to help them persuade some of the nine million tenants across the UK to vote Labour, painting a picture of Labour fighting for the tenant against rogue landlords and lettings agents.
However, these very policies designed to ‘help’ tenants may very well work entirely the opposite and work against tenants.
Net migration into the UK for the year ending September 2014 was 298,000 yet the number of new homes built totaled 118,760. Couple the affects of this high migration and low number of home builds with the difficulties of obtaining a mortgage and lifestyle changes such as an increase in single parents, and many more rental homes are needed in this country. The real issue is not the private rented sector but the availability of affordable housing.
Then when it comes to Labour’s proposed policy of outlawing tenant fees this will again compound the negative aspects of the industry, putting many more tenants at risk.
Reputable lettings agents such as Belvoir! Sheffield work very hard on behalf of tenants, and it is only right that work carried out on behalf of tenants should be charged to tenants, not landlords. Outlawing tenants fees will simply mean that reputable letting agents may not be able to provide the service that tenants want, and tenants will suffer.
If Landlords are forced to absorb the expense of rising costs as they are unable to increase rents to cover them, they will inevitably have to sell the property or change it to a different use. That means even less available rented property being available, on top of a lack of affordable housing in the first place. Potentially lots of homeless tenants!
With all that in mind I am urging tenants (and landlords) to look beyond the headline manifesto statements designed to grab your attention and persuade voters to understand the bigger picture in order to ensure that they still have an affordable place to live.
Don’t worry, after the election is over I’ll get back to my usual blogs to provide you with lots of tips and advice about making the most of your home and about living in Sheffield, so make sure you follow us on Facebook or Twitter to get my next blogs and posts!
