Should local councils become private letting agencies?
On Estate Agent Today this week, a local council in Wales came under renewed fire after setting up an estate agency which also handles lettings and property management.
Local agents called it a waste of resources and queried why they were paying their council tax only for the council to set up a business that undercuts them.
A number of councils have let up lettings agencies, but what is your view?
Our regular blogger Steve Perrons is in no doubt. Local councils should concentrate on working with existing agents, rather than set up their own.
All the same, he says: “Any effort to get vulnerable people into accommodation needs to be applauded. So councils should be congratulated on what is in essence a very innovative move, albeit one that blurs the line between public and private sector so that they become indistinguishable.”
Read his blog on LAT, published today.
Comments
Ray - you are spot on and ventures such as this should be outlawed by legislation but that would take years and lots of meetings that we would fund by way of expenses.
You need to find out who authorised this and on what groungs. Surely this will be available under the Freedom of Information Act?
Stop blabbing about it and do something.
It does not affect me as I am miles away but this is something for the Welsh EA's to look into.
if they want to start up these ventures they should take out a loan like any other new business. tax payers should not be funding this. if they get a loan and make it a success fine, otherwise, they should stick to messing up the world of bureaucracy.
May I repeat.
In my view the real point here is that they should not be using ANY Council Tax money to finance this venture - whether they are successsful or not. Council Tax is paid for general services to the community - not to fund, even in part, speculative ventures of of this kind.