I have written about this in the past, but I am so annoyed that I am jolly well going to write about it again.
The government is gradually dismantling all the helpful landlord and tenant information sites which were created under the last government.
And replacing them with – well with new sites which are nothing like as helpful as the old ones.
- The enormously helpful information that was once on the Communities and Local Government site has mostly been moved over to the National Archives where presumably it is not being updated
- The brilliant former Residential Property Tribunal site has been taken down – some of its information has moved to the Justice website – the rest appears to have vanished without trace
- The often useful Direct.gov and the Business Link sites have been replaced with a new gov.uk site – and have no doubt shed most of their information in the process (I have not had time to look at it yet but I fear the worst)
- NOW I find that the former site of the Public Trustee has moved also to the Justice site and is MOST unhelpful – it seems to consist mostly of a string of legislation. Hows that supposed to help a landlord who does not know who to serve a section 21 or ground 7 notice on, now his tenant has died?
So not only is the legal aid service – the once proud system intended to be a parallel to the National Health Service helping everyone get justice from the solicitor of their choice – almost completely gone. Now, even the government information sites that we had, appear to be disappearing one by one. Or being converted to a less informative version.
David Lawrenson did a survey recently and found that there was a woeful lack of information on Local Authority sites. However at least many local authorities give it a go.
Personally I think the dismantling of pre-existing national online guidance is far worse. This is generally done under the guise of moving the information over to another site – in the way that so much information is being moved over to the Justice site nowadays.
Inevitably every time this is done the amount of information provided is cut – and presumably the cost of keeping it up to date.
Or are they deliberately cutting down on the information so we don’t know what they’re up to?
You mention that you haven’t looked at gov.uk. Don’t bother – whilst one doesn’t expect artistic design to come into official websites, this looks like it has been designed by an 8 year old. I presume it is to accommodate the ‘lowest common denominator’ but I find the simplistic site difficult to follow.
Thanks for featuring our story Tessa, which was also covered here – with some odd comments from local authority defenders:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/housing-network/2012/oct/23/london-councils-fail-private-tenants-landlords?newsfeed=true
By the way, and as you mention it, I can tell you that the direct.gov.uk site is also quite out of date – for example it still has incorrect time limit for protection of tenancy deposits.
Instead of national and local govt and the likes of the London Assembly wasting seemingly endless resources on yet more private rented sector reviews they might be better off looking at what they currently provide instead.
Apart from very basic legislation there is now absolutely no further guidance for tenants – in particular social housing tenants. TPAS and INSTEP helplines went a while back. Free legal advice seems to be inextricably linked to Legal Aid which, as has been mentioned, is available to very few these days. The irony is that social housing staff have permanent access to legal guidance through contracts with legal firms financed by tenants’ rents and/or the public purse.
Thats very true Gillian.
I am particularly upset at the demise of much of the CLG information as that was SO helpful. For example all the stuff they had about licensing and the HHSRS.
I think it stemmed from when the site was the ODP site under John Prescott. One thing he did right.
One of the first things Pickles & Co did was clear it all out …
the Design principles that aim to make GOV.UK “more consistent and user-friendly” than its predecessor sites are set out on this page. http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/10918-10-ux-design-principles-that-underpin-the-new-gov-uk-site
The 2nd one would seem to be the principal principle, ie ” Do less”. Some of the pages I have looked are simplified to the point of being misleading.
I can see why the government are not too keen on providing information for landlords who should be able to seek and pay for their own advice.
The information was previously all over the place. If tenants need advice they should go to the CAB as a one-stop-shop.
There is a lot of useful info and fact sheets about all sorts of topics (even information for landlords). Check out the housing section section here:
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/housing_e.htm
It makes perfect sense to me.
I should have said they also have several factsheets. One is specifically for letting from an agent and what fees tenants should and should not pay. There is also a detailed factsheet on deposit protection (which is up to date and reflects the changes in the time limits).
The CAB seems like the logical place for most of this info and it will be easier to keep it current if it’s all in one place.