The picture above shows me out on the campaign trail recently with Sharon Bowles MEP and our Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Cllr Gareth Epps, discussing issues around the private rented sector .
I'm delighted to report that Council officers are recommending to the Labour administration in Reading that all 9 recommendations flowing from our recent scrutiny review into the private rented housing sector should be accepted.
The Executive will formally respond to our Review findings at a meeting of the Cabinet on Monday 1 June (at 6.30pm in the Civic Offices).
I see no reason why Labour councillors will not accept officers' recommendations.
You can download the report in full from the Council's website here (it's Item 15).
I launched the Scrutiny Review led jointly by the Housing, Health and Community Care and Environment Scrutiny Panels last year. Our deliberations included a public 'have your say' event in February.
You can read our original recommendations here.
Officers have responded as follows:
'In summary, it is the officers’ view that all but two of the recommendations should be accepted as written, as they are either already in progress, or are in line with the strategic direction of the Sustainable Communities Strategy and associated sub strategies, and do not have any significant operational or budgetary implications that are not addressed in the draft Housing Strategy.'
'A slight caveat is suggested in respect to the Landlord Accreditation Scheme re-launch in order to build in a period of review, and in respect to the Universities’ involvement in this scheme, it is noted that Cabinet are unable to commit resources on their behalf.'
I am particularly pleased that our Review findings were incorporated into the draft Housing Strategy for Reading 2009-2014. Private rented housing has a key role to play in terms of addressing growing housing need in Reading.
With the impact of the economic slow down and limited opportunities for delivering new housing in the town the private rented sector is more necessary now than ever.
However, as our Review highlighted, rented housing in Reading tends to be of a poorer quality and less environmentally efficient: both these areas need more concerted action from the Council.
The need to revive the Council's Landlord accreditation scheme was something that a student groups raised with us during the course of the review. Officers had this to say:
'a potential refresh and re-launch [of the landlord accreditation scheme] and Reading Borough Council has committed funding for an additional Private Sector Initiatives Officer who will prioritise this piece of work in 2009/10.'
And in response to our recommendations on student housing more generally:
'As detailed in the draft Housing Strategy, clear partnership is necessary with the two universities and landlords in the town in order to manage the issue of student accommodation appropriately. Issues such as joint landlord accreditation schemes, joint enforcement work for environmental and anti-social behaviour issues, and a joined up approach to distributing information to students living in the community will help to alleviate some of the negative impacts on local communities.
'A student accommodation action plan will be developed in partnership with the two universities to both improve the support and accommodation available to students and consider mitigating the impacts of student housing.'
The problem of lettings boards having a detrimental impact on the look and feel of some streets in parts of Reading was something residents raised with us during the review and an area we called for action. In response to this issue, officers have said the following:
'The Planning Section is currently considering various options for dealing with the
issue of the proliferation of letting boards across the Borough. Currently there is
a documented operational policy on planning enforcement priorities that was
prepared in consultation with the Planning Applications Committee. Enforcement
of the Advertisement Regulations in relation to lettings boards is considered a
lower category priority than other matters. The Scrutiny recommendation would
require some resources to be diverted from higher category priorities, diverging
143f rom the currently understood priorities. Cabinet may wish to ask the Head of
Planning and Building Control to consider how the Council could accommodate the
enforcement of the Advertisement Regulations in relation to letting boards in a
targeted and resource effective manner. The options could include, for example,
providing agents and local groups with information on the law relating to letting
boards, which would assist in agents themselves or local groups policing any
boards that should no longer be displayed under the regulations.'
Other highlights from the officers' report include:
- making information available to landlords more readily accessible and easier to understand
- creation of a leaflet entitled “Houses in Multiple Occupation: When Planning Permission is
and is not required”
- the creation of a cross-departmental officer group to enable more targeted environmental enforcement across the Borough
- revision to local planning policies to ensure parking issues as they relate to HMOs are considered
- continuing to work with residents to address waste management issues as they relate to flats, student housing and HMOs where there are particular challenges.
So what next? Our campaign does not end here: this is just the beginning.
Our first priority was to raise the profile of the private rented sector in Reading.
The second was to get the Labour-run Council to take action.
We will continue to campaign over the coming months to ensure that these issues stay on the agenda and that promises are fulflilled.
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