London's Islington council has launched a not-for-profit letting agency which will not charge tenants any fees and guarantees rental income to landlords.
The agency, Islington Lettings, will manage homes in the private rented sector but will focus on family tenants currently in temporary accommodation, of which there are around 1,000 in Islington.
Landlords are promised a guaranteed six months rent upfront - with the authority covering any arrears - but the rent must not exceed the local housing allowance. Islington Lettings' target is modest - to rent around 100 homes in its first year.
Islington has 24,000 households that are privately renting. A spokesman for a local private sector tenants' group, Islington Private Tenants, has told local journalists that the scheme is welcome but is very small compared to the size of the borough's housing problems.
This scheme will need to involve many more properties and be proactive in improving quality of homes to really make a difference for renters he says.
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Comments
Ray, that is exactly what they are proposing to do. They have no need to worry about making a loss since losses will be covered by council tax payers.
They run a similar "guaranteed rent" scheme in Bristol and the rents are so low that only desperate landlords with poor quality accommodation take up the offer!
"Landlords are promised a guaranteed six months rent upfront - with the authority covering any arrears" So will Islington Council be extending this grand offer to all other letting agents and private landlords in the area Hmmm, I suspect not.
I'd like to see their business model and how they propose to pay the running costs of the business with just 100 properties in the first year; surely they are not proposing to use council tax payers money to fund the business