Welcome to another Newsround, where we bring you all the latest housing news.
Charity wades in on LHA freeze
The Salvation Army is asking the government to lift the freeze on Local Housing Allowance in an effort to help those low income families pay their rent.
In a recent poll carried out of 1000 adults, 48% live in dread that any additional expense of £100 would mean that they would be unable to pay their rent. The allowance has been frozen by the government for over four years now, and the Salvation Army claim that it now ‘does not reflect the true cost of renting in today’s market’.
It also wants the government to end the five-week wait for the first Universal Credit payment to be made to new claimants, and to deal with the lack of social housing, the charity said
The UK government must address the shortage of affordable housing, especially social housing, so that people on low incomes who are trapped in unsuitable, temporary accommodation can afford a stable home.
And it seems it’s not just the older population struggling with paying the rent, young renters are relying more and more on their parents to help pay their costs, you can read more here.
Rentals do not lag behind in energy efficiency – claim
Nationwide has a new report out that claims that 48% of private rental sector properties are of an EPC rating of A to C compared to 49% of owner-occupied properties. They say that energy efficiency has improved across the whole housing stock, regardless of whether it is rented or not.
This is mainly due to new builds being built efficiently and improvements being carried out on older properties such as insulation and solar panels. However, there is still a low uptake of larger costlier options, such as air source heat pumps. Only 276,000 properties use them as their main heating source.
You can read more here.
Another council doubles its licensing fees
Hackney Council is running a consultation to bring in two new five-year licensing schemes from 2026. This will see fees increase from £500 to £925. It proposes a new additional licensing scheme for all HMO’s in the borough that do not require a mandatory license and also a selective licensing scheme which will include all private rentals excluding HMO’s.
This has incited a lot of anger. Propertymark is calling on them to wait until the national PRS database comes into effect in a few months time when the Renters Rights Bill becomes law. They say
More targeted schemes would be better value for money and more effective in tackling serious hazards and anti-social behaviour. we advocate a regulatory framework that focuses on education, proportionate enforcement, and effective targeting of problem areas.
They add that high fees will no doubt be passed onto the tenants and will impact landlords looking to improve energy efficiency and improvements on their properties. They also claim that their fees are disproportionate to those of other comparable boroughs and do not offer any discounts or incentives.
Rise in non-emergency landlord callouts
Direct Line has released new figures in a survey this week that claims that 65% of landlords say that they are now called by their tenants to deal with ‘non emergency’ problems that often are down the tenant themselves to fix.
Here are some statistics
- 22% of tenants have called their landlord to replace a lightbulb.
- 18% of tenants have called their landlord to remove carpet stains
- 17% of tenants have called their landlord for help getting into their property whilst drunk
- 15% of tenants have called their landlord to change the dishwasher filter
There has also been a steep rise in genuine emergency call outs with 72% of those occurring outside normal working hours. These consist of boiler issues (39%), water leaks(28%) and blocked drains/toilets(28%).
Genuine emergency callout events can strengthen the landlord-tenant relationship if dealt with quickly and efficiently, claim Direct Line.
Snippets
England’s renters face growing affordability challenges – ONS
TV star signs up to back rent guarantor firm ahead of reforms
Trade body slams unnecessary ‘duplication’ of regulation for landlords
England to sell eight times more council homes than it built last year, report finds
State of Nation’s property – comprehensive data released
More big names back campaigner seeking Labour U-turn on pets
Comment: 28 weeks to Evict a tenant, should landlords be fearful?
See also our Quick News Updates on Landlord Law
Newsround will be back again next week
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