You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Brokenshire: government will propose minimum three-year private sector tenancies
The government is proposing three-year minimum tenancies in the private rented sector, a policy it described as rent control just over a year ago.
At a speech this morning in Westminster, housing secretary James Brokenshire said the government would consult on “overcoming the barriers to longer tenancies in the private rented sector”.
He said the government would be “proposing a new longer tenancy model with a minimum of three years and six-month break clause to exit early if needed”.
READ MORE
When it published its Housing White Paper last year, the government said it hoped the increase in build-to-rent developers would lead to longer tenancies, but that it would not force them on the buy-to-let market.
The then housing minister Gavin Barwell told Inside Housing: “If you tried to force people to do it at the opposite end of the market [buy-to-let], I think history is very clear about what happens when you have rent controls – I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
When Ed Miliband announced plans for three-year minimum tenancies ahead of the 2015 election, then housing minister Brandon Lewis said: “Their flagship policy to help tenants would actually lead to higher rents. Labour are in chaos.
“Rent controls never work – they destroy investment in housing, leading to fewer homes to rent and poorer-quality accommodation.”
Giving his first speech as housing secretary today at the headquarters of thinktank Policy Exchange in Westminster, Mr Brokenshire said: “We’re also bringing real change to making renting more secure. I know this is particularly important to a growing number of families, vulnerable tenants and older people who rent and live with the uncertainty of suddenly being forced to move or fear eviction if they complain about problems with their home.
“That’s why I’m announcing a consultation today on overcoming the barriers to longer tenancies in the PRS [private rented sector]. We’re proposing a new longer tenancy model with a minimum of three years and six-month break clause to exit early if needed.”
Answering a question on homelessness following his speech, Mr Brokenshire said the termination of private sector tenancies was a major cause of homelessness.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has not yet published the consultation document for the policy.
Mr Brokenshire also announced that government funding would no longer be given to housing developments making ‘unjustified’ use of leasehold.
“Today, I can confirm we will go a step further – any new government funding scheme will contain the condition that the money cannot support the unjustified use of leasehold for new houses,” he said. “We want to build more homes, yes, but not at any cost.”
