London Assembly Backs Private Rent Reforms Photo by Andy kirby from the Londonist Flickr pool The London Assembly has voted in favour of stronger protections for the capital’s renters. In a meeting on Wednesday, Assembly members voted 12 to 7 in favour of a motion for three-year tenancies, banning letting agents’ fees for tenants and setting rent increases to average market rents or inflation (to avoid eye-watering increases on a landlord’s whim). There is a London Rental Standard in place, but as it’s voluntary it’s only as good as your landlord. The Assembly wants the Mayor to work towards making measures like these compulsory. The motion was called a “pre-election gimmick by the Labour party” by Conservative Assembly Member James Cleverly — just after admitting he’s a landlord himself (who hasn’t put the rent up in four years; but neither is he a member of an accreditation scheme). Cleverly accused Labour of going after private renters’ votes and cited one of the most often heard arguments against ‘rent controls’, that it would reduce supply and increase prices as landlords frontload rents. In a way he’s right; London has far too many bad, irresponsible landlords who would likely take advantage of any loopholes in regulation to screw tenants. [...] newsinlondon/london-assembly-backs-private-rent-reforms/
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 11:31:07 +0000
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