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Labour reveals five point plan to organise tenants against landlords

The Labour Party appears to be entering the arena of organising private rental sector tenants who have grievances.

Party leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted over the weekend about "five ways to take on rogue landlords" - and the video he links to pulls no punches about what he and Labour appear to think about those who operate the private rental sector.

It starts with two women, presumably tenants, talking about rats and cockroaches in a flat with one saying that they [landlords or their agents] “can take that rug from beneath your feet at any time and for any damn reason.”

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The video then outlines Labour’s five steps to tackling rogue buy to let operators.

1. Build Relationships - it encourages tenants to knock on the doors of other tenants to see if they have similar problems.;

2. Tell Stories - one male figure in the video says that by telling personal stories it “gets people emotionally involved”;

3. Know Your Rights - this talks of finding sympathetic lawyers or the local Citizens Advice Bureau or others who can be “mobilised” to help tenants;

4. Find Your Labour Party Community Organisers - one of these is quoted that people have come together “to fight for their futures”;

5. Escalate Your Actions - this section talks of meetings, social media activity and petitions to “win this campaign”.

You can see the video below and the link for Labour’s plan ‘Introducing Community Organising’ is here.

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    How about 'Speak to your agent/landlord" if you have any problems"???????

  • Simon Shinerock

    How about stop taking drugs, getting drunk and shouting and screaming, playing loud music and harassing your neighbours, your landlord and or their agent. How about allowing access for inspections, keeping appointments and being polite not aggressive on the phone. How about paying your rent on time, telling the truth and showing a modicum of common decency. How about respecting the fact you are living in someone else’s property and looking after it. Give me strength

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    Could not agree more Simon. It is extremely sad that when it comes to the sort of problems you mention it is without doubt becoming the many and not the few. Oh and p.s I would rather burn everything I own than ever vote for you Corbyn!

     
  • James B

    Wonder if he’s going to supply any properties for all the landlords that leave if he gets in

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    His aim would be to take the properties from the landlords and give them to the tenants - just as he wants to take shops from their private owners. Every now and then the mask slips and he shows how he wants to abolish private property and turn the UK into a communist state. He is the biggest threat to our country since Hitler.

     
    Algarve  Investor

    Sorry Ros Beck, but that's ridiculous hyperbole, especially when you consider who we currently have in charge and the cliff edge they are taking us towards.

    Whatever you think of Corbyn, he is not the devil incarnate and nowhere near as dangerous as you make out.

    Boris Johnson, on the other hand, is happily leading us towards economic misery and potentially thousands of job losses by pushing for a completely undemocratic no-deal Brexit.

     
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    @Algarve Investor: You're wrong, but we're specifically discussing housing matters...not Brexit.

     
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    According to Spears Corbyn has a estimated worth of £3 million. A true socialist, and a true hypocrite. Be a man of the people and donate a couple of million to the homeless then I might start to believe you are what you claim.

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    Typically trying to hoover up the votes from people using the lowest of low tactics, this is despicable

  • The Lettings Hub

    This advice is really unhelpful for all involved and seems to be missing the obvious first step – opening up a dialogue between the tenant and their letting agent or landlord, not swapping stories with other tenants! There are good and bad on both sides of the lettings process, but stirring up animosity and pitting landlords against tenants isn’t a pragmatic solution.

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    Corbyn is a lunatic. But actually, these ‘5 point plans’ are quite meaningless. What does it actually mean ‘know your rights’? Of course you should! What is meant or achieved by ‘mobilising the CAB’? And what’s that last point: ‘go to a meeting’??

    Whooppee. I’m crapping it now! 😊

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    I agree that Corbyn and J McDonald are dangerous people and UK would become a communist state.
    It would not be in anybodys interests to try and better themseves because you would pay it all in tax.
    So you might as well give up and sign on.
    There are good tenants and there are many tenants who return properties in trashed states and dont do any cleaning. The likes of Shelter Labour and the do gooders encourage this .

    Instead they should stamp it out . Teach cleaning in schools for many people have no idea or are just plain lazy.

    The media, Labour, Shelte,r GRent, Acorn have created mass bad feeling between the tenants and landlords close to affray . Instead they should be working with landlords for a better society

  • Suzy OShea

    Again, typical politician: promising mountains and delivering molehills.

    On the subject of pests in properties: central London is plagued by cockroaches. It has to be a team effort to get rid of these pests, which require regular monthly visits by pest exterminators who spray the floors and skirting boards of the properties. That means tenants need to arrange not only for access but to make sure that their flats are tidy and clean! That their food is stored in plastic or metal containers which allow no access to either cockroaches or rodents! That their standards of food preparation and clearing up directly after preparing food are faultless to leave nothing for the pests to eat. that they remove food waste daily for the same reason! That they don't buy mountainous bags of rice, popular amongst families of Indian/Asian heritage, cheaply from Uncle Ali and leave these to attract and bring in even more pests!

    I wonder how many of these tenants afflicted by pests can claim high levels of hygiene in food preparation!

    When I started in this business some 30 years ago, you could usually rely on tenants to keep the properties clean and tidy! Now, I makes sure that i 'provide' a weekly cleaner just to stop my property from getting wrecked.

    And don't even get me started on properties affected by bed bug infestations! these cost a fortune to eradicate!

  • Nick Neill

    This is reasonably straightforward I'd suggest. Simply mobilize all letting agents or Landlords who have problem tenants and trolly off to the local Labour Party Office and present your woes, asking the party of the many, not the few, to solve your tenant issues for you. You'll then have spare time to attend a jolly meeting. Perhaps this will help the Labour Party to see things in balance and understand that, as stated above, there are problems on all sides of this debate!

  • PossessionFriendUK PossessionFriend

    So misguided, they're only harming the most vulnerable tenants.
    The most in need will be squeezed out of Housing by the lack of Dealing with the few rotten apples.

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    • 27 August 2019 21:58 PM

    The effects of all this anti-LL rhetoric will lead to LL dumping lower class tenants and the properties that go with them.
    LL will move to quality property with quality tenants.
    By implication this means LL will retain far fewer properties but of better quality.
    It surely can no longer be worthwhile dealing with the lower strata of the lettings market.
    The sort of lettings and tenants who I have ever let to have never had cockroach etc infestations.
    It has always been the tenants that have caused very minor issues.
    Anything major I have dealt with.
    My tenants only needed to advise me and I had issues resolved.
    I have a devil of a job just to get tenants to contact me if there are any issues.
    Quite frankly with S24 the game has had it and I will be selling up and getting rid of good tenants..........Damn right I can pull the rug from under my tenants.
    My capital; my properties, don't like it, go and buy your own property!
    Of course if it wasn't for the bonkers anti-LL policies I wouldn't be selling up.
    I would have no need to.....................S24 forces me to make good tenants homeless.
    Labour can have all the policies they like to beat the PRS up with.
    Trouble is there won't be much to beat up as most LL would have sold up.
    Very few tenants can afford to buy even if they wanted to of which few do.

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