Standing up for Reading students - landlord accreditation review

Last night in Scrutiny we discussed the impact of the private rented housing review I championed last year. We recommended last year that landlord accreditation scheme in Reading be re-introduced to give students and tenants more confidence when renting properties and to help raise standards in the sector. Officers told us that a slew of government announcements relating to  planning and HMOs has meant that the review is still not complete - not the Council's fault but it's a pity it's impacted on the revival of this scheme. I contacted Reading University Students Union officers about this issue as they have been lobbying the Council for many years to bring back the scheme. They told me that they had held a meeting with RBC officers in December and discussed a survey which would go out to students asking them what sort of scheme they would like to see put in place. I raised concerns about the time the review was taking last night and councillors agreed that we would recommend to Cabinet that the review must be complete and plans in place by June ahead of the next academic year. I am due to meet RBC and RUSU officers to discuss details soon and fingers crossed things will progress.