NRLA CEO Ben Beadle gives evidence to Government
NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle has given evidence to two Parliamentary select committees this week.
Ben gave evidence to the Public Accounts Committee on regulation of the private rented sector following the publication of a report by the National Audit Office raising concerns over housing standards, and to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee on the issue of cladding and fire safety remediation
Housing standards
The National Audit Office report, which was published at the end of last year, claimed the proportion of renters living in unsafe homes or those which fail the Decent Homes Standard needs to be addressed, along with tenants’ abilities to enforce their legal rights. It also criticised the Government’s own record-keeping.
Ben told the committee that the two biggest issues at present are the housing supply crisis and the issue of enforcement, which latest research from the NRLA shows to be a postcode lottery.
According to the association’s figures, more than half of local authorities in England failed to issue any civil penalties against rogue or criminal landlords in the last three years – despite a plethora of powers at their disposal.
Ben stressed to the committee that standards within the private rented sector are improving, with the proportion of private rented households with at least one of the most serious category 1 hazards under the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System falling considerably in recent years, from 28% in 2009 to 13% in 2019, a considerable improvement.
He said the vast majority of landlords are compliant and providing valuable homes to let and that they are frustrated with the criminal minority, which is bring the sector into disrepute.
In his evidence he called for a more strategic, joined up approach, focussing on the better enforcement of existing rules and regulations impacting on the sector, rather than the creation of more and more legislation. He also explained how a national redress scheme for the sector could work and how it would benefit landlords and tenants.
To watch the Public Accounts Committee evidence session in full click here.
To read a full transcript of the session click here.
Cladding
Ben also addressed the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee on Monday where he gave oral evidence on building safety and funding for the removal of dangerous cladding.
The session was held after Housing Secretary Michael Gove confirmed developers will be expected to pay for remediation works to tackle dangerous cladding on buildings between 11 and 18 metres high for owner-occupiers.
Ben used the session to raise concerns over the fact that Ministers have failed to confirm whether buy-to-let landlords will be covered by the scheme, despite being leaseholders like everybody else.
He pointed out that such landlords typically own single flats within blocks and are not property tycoons, saying it is ‘disappointing’ that the Government appears to be discriminating between tenures.
He told the committee: “At the end of the day, landlords are in the same bed as the average leaseholder. Unless they installed it or built the block themselves, they should be treated in exactly the same way as the Government has proposed [for owner-occupiers]….. Landlords should not be excluded from the provisions in the announcement on 10 January. It really is as simple as that.”
Following the evidence session, Sir Peter Bottomley MP, raised an Early Day Motion (EDM) calling for the equal treatment of individual landlords and owner-occupiers. NRLA members and landlords who are affected are encouraged to write to their constituency MP to raise their concerns, and ask them to support the EDM. You can find out more about the EDM here and guidance on how to contact your MP most effectively here.
To watch the evidence session in full click here.
For a full transcript of the proceedings, including Ben’s evidence click here.
