Rayner will ‘make no apologies’ for new landlord standards
The Deputy Prime Minister described a ‘balance’ between landlords’ and renters’ rights, adding: ‘People need homes that are safe.’
Angela Rayner has vowed to “make no apologies” for new rules landlords must follow, as she faced a warning it will be “tenants who pay” for the measures.
Conservative former minister Graham Stuart said it is “easy to sound morally righteous while you demand ever-higher standards” in the housing market.
He made his comment less than a week after MPs backed the Renters’ Rights Bill, which will now undergo scrutiny in the House of Lords.
Deputy Prime Minister Ms Rayner described a “balance” between landlords’ and renters’ rights, adding: “People need homes that are safe.”
Responding to an earlier claim by Conservative MP Greg Smith, that the National Trust is now leaving homes empty to avoid new “burdens”, Ms Rayner told the Commons: “We’ll make sure that empty homes are brought back into use and we make no apologies for asking that homes are of a decent and safe standard, people should be able to live in their homes without the risk of hazards that are dangerous to their health.”
Mr Smith, the MP for Mid Buckinghamshire, said he heard from Bradenham Parish Council near High Wycombe last year, which raised concerns about National Trust-owned rental properties.
He warned the charity is “now leaving them empty and not putting new tenants in, to avoid the burdens that this Government is placing on landlords” and asked: “Will the Secretary of State agree with me that there is a balance to be struck here, and what advice can she actually give areas like Bradenham who are now facing being an empty village?”
Mr Stuart, the MP for Beverley and Holderness, later said: “It’s easy to sound morally righteous while you demand ever higher standards, but if you wreck the private housing market, ultimately it will be the tenants who pay.”
He added: “Can the Secretary of State answer the question of (Greg Smith) now, and tell us how she will ensure the private rented sector remains investable, so that tenants have somewhere to live?”
Ms Rayner, who is also the Housing Secretary, replied: “There has to be a balance struck, people need homes that are safe.
“Is (Mr Stuart) saying they don’t want to provide a decent home, a decent standard?
“Because I believe a majority of landlords provide that decent home standard, and there’s those few that don’t, and where they don’t they need to be held accountable.”
The Renters’ Rights Bill, if passed, would end no-fault evictions, stop bidding wars for tenancies, help tenants challenge unreasonable rent increases and prevent landlords from demanding more than a month’s rent in advance from a new tenant.
