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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

“Bold” new Labour reforms for private rental sector coming next month

An influential Labour website says a raft of proposed reforms for the private rental sector will be unveiled next month - but they are not guaranteed to become party policy.

LabourList says the reforms are contained in a report by Stephen Cowan, the Labour leader of Hammersmith and Fulham council in west London.

A year ago he was asked by the then-shadow housing secretary Lisa Nandy to compile a review and LabourList says this will now be published soon after the May 2 local elections.

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LabourList says: “One source stressed it was an independent review, while another predicted it would include some bold proposals. Labour is expected to consider it in detail once it has been published … One source told LabourList they did not expect Cowan’s report to recommend rent controls.”

Last week London Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan announced the concept of “rent control homes” - 6,000 of them in the capital - which would be built using public money and then levying rent capped at the level of local key workers.

Khan also vowed to be a “renters’ champion” spending up to £4m on a “licensing hub” to fund groups like renters’ unions, investing in advice for renters, and supporting renters to get rent rebates.

You can see the full LabourList story here.

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    H&F Council has just published the PRS strategy so look at that for the direction of travel for what the Labour policy PRS world will look like in a few months time...

  • Kristjan Byfield

    Khan would be better off mandating that all London Boroughs align their property licensing exactly and then streamline this through a central hub that processes applications in 10-14 days rather than to 12+ MONTHS that so many now take. He could then ring-fence the funds generated through this for pro-active enforcement with the rest used for other housing endeavours. Simple, pragmatic & effective- which is probably why he won't touch it with a bargepole (or any politician for that matter).

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