I have been informed of an initiative from the British Property Federation, relating to reform of the Local Housing Allowance system. I copy below an email I received from the Eastern Landlords Association (ELA) who are looking to collect evidence to support this. As many other landlords may want to support the initiative, I have agreed to publish it here. This is the information I received from Eastern Landlords:
“As you are aware, the implementation of local housing allowance (LHA) on 7 April 2008 has caused numerous problems for private sector landlords throughout the UK. A survey earlier this year painted a bleak picture. In many cases landlords are not being passed the rent money by their tenants, resulting in an average loss to landlords of £2,000. As a result of this, many landlords are refusing to offer properties to tenants claiming LHA, creating a shortage of housing for them.
Unfortunately, the survey was limited to the north-west of England. We have been working with the British Property Federation (BPF) on this issue and they have decided that an effective route is to compile evidence across the rest of the country. With enough evidence, our argument against the current LHA regime will have the most chance of winning over politicians in the run up to an election and convincing them of the need for reform.”
The email from the ELA attached a survey form together with a template letter for you send to your MP (whose details you can find out from www.theyworkforyou.com). I have put these online, and you can download the survey form (which is in pdf format) from here and the letter (which is in word format) from here.
The survey form should be returned by 16th October to:
Andy Fretwell
Senior Administrator
Eastern Landlords Association
Suite A, St Francis House,
141-147 Queens Road,
Norwich, NR1 3PN
If you want to speak to the ELA, the telephone number is 01603 767101, or you can email them at officer@easternlandlords.org.uk.