Another week and another Newsround. Let’s see what has been in the housing news week.
Shocking failure of yet another social Landlord
Southwark Council, who rent out over 36,800 homes, have been issued a ‘C3’ grading amounting to ‘serious failings’ by the regulator of Social Housing, for not having smoke alarms in over half of their properties.
Furthermore, 50% of Southwark’s social housing has not had an electrical condition test in over five years. This council has over 2,000 overdue fire safety remedial actions outstanding, 100 of which are classed as high risk.
A Spokesperson for Southwark Council said
We’re improving our repairs, complaints and housing allocations services and establishing a new Housing Management Board.
Sadly, they are not the only council to be letting their tenants down, Camden Council have had 124 findings of maladministration where they have not followed their processes or procedures.
One disabled tenant had to contend with 686 lift outages out of 1,051 while he lived in one of the council’s flats.
You can read more here.
Tenants are renting for longer
Private renters are now, on average, spending 4.6 years in their current rental property. This is up from 4.4 years in 2021/2022, according to the 2023-2024 English Housing Survey.
Many industry leaders claim that this is down to fixed term tenancies as they give tenants stability and security.
However, as we all know, the Renters Rights Bill is replacing this with periodic tenancies and claims that fixed tenancies lock tenants into contracts that they cannot get out of.
The survey also claims that 57% of private renters hope to buy a property of their own, with 39% hoping to do so in the next 2-5 years. This is up by 35% from 2022-2023.
EPC’s to be reformed
Labour has kicked off a new consultation called ‘Reforms to the Energy Performance of Buildings regime’. It is hoped that the information will be easier to understand and more useful than it currently is.
It will give homeowners and tenants more accurate details on the energy efficiency of a building, along with its carbon emissions and tackling fuel poverty.
The bad news for landlords is that whilst currently, an EPC is valid for ten years and is only required when a property is re-let, Labour want to make landlords get EPCs done more regularly.
A spokesperson stated
It would be similar to other requirements on landlords throughout tenancies, such as valid building insurance or gas safety certificates, and can be managed through letting agents where appropriate.
There are expected to be four main areas on the new EPC
- Fabric performance
- Heating system
- Smart readiness
- Energy cost
We encourage all landlords to contribute to their consultation, which closes on 26th February 2025. You can read it here.
The psychology behind renters
Mortgage lender OSB Group has carried out some psychological research into private renters, and states that whilst most renters (74%) eventually seek to buy their own home, affordability remains the most significant factor and the reason why people are now renting for longer.
They have identified three psychological drivers:-
- Landlord to tenant relationship
- Homes where tenants can stamp their personality in their rented homes
- The value of ownership and the need for control
The need for control was the most important psychological driver for a tenant to move out of their rented home.
Snippets
PIX: Shocking size of ‘rooms’ within illegal HMO Revealed
Labour says renters face ‘insecurity’ but tenancies getting longer
Pets cause less damage than tenants – industry figure’s claim
Government urged to accelerate efforts to make homes more energy efficient
See also our Quick News Updates on Landlord Law
Newsround will be back again next week