Ben Reeve Lewis Friday Newsround #31

[Ben Reeve Lewis remembers Ken and the good old days …]

Reasons to be cheerful

I admit to being beside myself this week. Not because of any breakthroughs in the housing crisis you understand, but because the new Tintin film is out. Have you seen the trailer? It looks awesome and I feel like a kid at Xmas, alive with expectation.

The only difficult thing is that I have arranged to see it with Frazzy, who has a habit of providing a running commentary for all films, so I fear I will spend most of it saying “SSSSHHHHH” over and over again.

I once took her and her mum to see a Russell Crowe action flick and foolishly sat between them while they incessantly leaned forward and held their own conversation about how they knew he was gonna get that gun out and how he would regret doing what he had just done. She tells me it is a Caribbean trait to not sit passively in films or theatre….Oh Joy!

The film is apparently a telling of Herge’s graphic novel ‘Red Rackham’s Treasure’, a strange bit of serendipity as this week saw the revival of none other than that salty old sea dog Red Ken Livingstone, who is throwing his tri-corned hat into the ring for the London Mayoral Race, using rogue landlords as his route back.

Red Ken is back

His website, ‘Ken for London’  asks “Tell me your London housing horror stories”.

Now I always liked Red Ken, not just because I was a member of Militant back in the old County Hall days, but because I always thought him a man aware of his own sense of ridiculousness, a trait I find attractive in anyone but particularly in a politician, where it is most rare.

When Boris got in I couldn’t believe the buffoon we all knew and liked from TV would ever be taken seriously as a politician but I have to say he hasn’t done that bad in my opinion. Bearing in mind that the term “That bad”, when applied to a politician means they haven’t actually killed anyone or started a war, it’s a limited qualifier.

He gets the thumbs up from me when he says “I am determined to stand up for the hundreds of thousands of ordinary Londoners living in the private rented sector. Too many people are being hit by high and rapidly rising rents, unfair fees, or accommodation which simply isn’t up to scratch.

Working in frontline housing I can confirm that this is indeed a very current and thorny problem.

But my sympathy starts to wobble a bit when he states “People I meet all over London have been telling me their housing horror stories of rogue landlords, rip-off agencies and unsafe buildings, and I know that they are not alone”.  Uh-oh, are we straying into easy target territory here?

And then he states “In the coming months I want to set out a plan to improve the private rented sector which will be shaped by the experiences of Londoners”. This is where I start to think “Oh dear”, what does he have in mind?

Even as London Mayor he can’t actually change the laws on renting, the only thing he has any sway over is how council’s engage with (read prosecute) landlords, which I fear is going to be a re-telling of Shelter’s rogue landlord campaign, of which regular readers will know I am a bit of a critic.

I don’t want to write him off just yet, lets face it, in true politician style he hasn’t actually said how he intends to go about this but maybe that’s my worry.

London rents are widely reported to be out of control, a recent report pointing out that a London 2 bed rent is £151 higher than the national average take home pay, but I think there is a fine line though between addressing a real problem and cynically using it as an easy vote winner. Lets hope he means it, I still have a bit of faith left in him, plus my old donkey jacket and black 501s and maybe even a tattered copy of Rosa Luxembourg’s ‘Revolution or reform?’, lying around somewhere.

Crisis, what crisis?

However, not everyone agrees. One writer on Property Hawk blog asked of the problem of high rents “Crisis? What crisis?”, not a belated review of a Supertramp album, merely a strange boasting piece on how great it is to be him and his bank account.

He begins by saying “Is anyone else getting sick of the word ‘Crisis?’. Yes mate I am, and I am also sick of the words ‘Smug’ and ‘Insensitive’.

And while we are on the subject of London rents I was intrigued to read on the blog of Hurford-Salvi & Carr, that high west end rents are forcing students to move to docklands. How does that work then? Sure west end rents are high but I thought Docklands rents were even higher and I don’t know any students who could afford to live in either place.

All the students I have ever known live in cramped bedsits above kebab shops or bookies and survive on a diet of cheap speed and beans, or maybe that was just me and students are more upmarket these days.

And finally, I want to talk about frogs.

It is little known fact that scientists looking for sensitive indicators of climate crisis and subtle shifts in the eco-system look at frog populations. Variations in which can tell us a lot about what is going on, so what about storage companies as an indicator of rental trends?

This week the Big Yellow Self Storage company reported a surge in enquiries about storage fees from people looking to de-clutter that spare room so they can rent it out during the Olympics, predictions being that you might be able to get £1,000 a room.

With so much conjecture and speculation about the approaching Olympic rent-rush it might be a good idea to keep an eye on the Big Yellow Self Storage Company website as it merrily croaks its plaintive song in the gathering twilight.

Ben Reeve Lewis

Ben has started Home Saving Expert, to share his secrets to defending people’s homes from mortgage repossession Visit his blog and get some help and advice on mortgage difficulties and catch up with him on Twitter and check out his free report “An Encouraging note on Dealing with your Mortgage Lender” and have it sent right to your inbox.

Bud