A year ago I led a scrutiny review into the private rented housing sector in Reading jointly with my Lib Dem colleague Cllr Ricky Duveen (who chairs the Environment Scrutiny Panel). Private rented housing is a big issue in Redlands - in particular HMOs and student housing, so it's something I've always campaigned on, even before I was chair of scrutiny.
Our review made a series of recommendations to the Labour adminstration of Reading Borough Council - 99% of which they accepted in June last year.I made clear at that time that it was vitally important that the scrutiny review should not be a one off and that it should be use to drive continuous improvement in the sector and in RBC policies for the benefit of tenants and residents.
Why bother? Let's not forget 25% of Reading's population lives in the PRS and this is also where some of the worst housing conditions are - 22.6% of properties do not met Decent Homes standard due to poor thermal efficiency, leading to problems of fuel poverty.With this in mind I requested an update report be presented to both scrutiny panels. We will be discussing this and progress since the review at HHCC Scrutiny Panel this Thursday evening at 6.30pm in the Kennet Room. The meeting is open to the public and if you would like to ask a question on this item please contact me.
Some points I wanted to highlight from the report to scrutiny:
- We recommended that the review findings inform the Council's new Housing Strategy - this has happened with objectives to improve both the condition and management of the sector right at the heart of the new strategy
- We recommended that RBC continued to develop and promote services to support tenants in the private rented sector - this is happening with the Deposit Guarantee Scheme continuing to prove popular. The Council is also about to appoint a money advisor for tenants.
- We recommended the creation of a cross-Council enforcement group to tackle problems at a neighbourhood level - since group is up and running and over 20 cases have been discussed ranging from rubbish to empty homes issues
- We recommended more information be made available for local residents about HMOs and planning rules - a leaflet has been drafted but it needs to be revised to take account of recent government announcements relating to HMOs and planning
- We recommended that flexible waste collection be investigated for flats and HMOs following a pilot in Katesgrove - flexibility is now 'inherent in RBC collection systems' across Reading
Landlord accreditation scheme review
One of the major recommendations from our review, based on feedback we received from Reading University Students' Union and students called for partners to re-establish a comprehensive landlord accreditation scheme to raise standards across the sector and give tenants more confidence about letting properties in Reading. A review of the scheme was launched in October 2009, however, for various reasons the scheme is not up and running yet. This is partly due to the fact that the government has made some announcements that impact on Council policies. Officers are currentlyy looking at schemes currently running and identify any gaps, or missed opporutnities, in the private rented sector that could be bridged through accreditation. A consultation is planned. I will be meeting officers shortly to discuss how we can speed things up.
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