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Government to consult on housing court to hear tenant grievances
The Conservatives will consult on a housing court where private rented sector tenants can take grievances against landlords, Sajid Javid has announced.
The communities secretary used his Conservative Party conference speech this afternoon to announce new measures to strengthen private sector tenants’ rights in an attempt to win over younger voters.
These include a requirement for letting agents to be regulated, an ombudsman redress scheme that all landlords must sign up to “so that tenants have a quick and easy resolution to disputes”, and incentives to encourage landlords to offer 12-month tenancies.
Mr Javid said the government will consult with the judiciary on a “new specialist housing court so that we can get faster, more effective justice”.
He added: “This will mean that every tenant has the security of knowing that if they’re mistreated or standards aren’t met that they’ll have somewhere to go, somewhere with the power to put it right.”
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Mr Javid spoke of the Grenfell Tower fire, saying a “horrific tragedy” had hit the people of Kensington and the government “will not rest until justice is secured for the victims and we must make sure that nothing like this can ever happen again”.
He said a “complete rethink of our approach to social housing” is needed.
“Far too often we hear of residents’ complaints going unanswered or even ignored, of repairs left undone, of basic fire safety hazards left unaddressed”, he added.
Mr Javid recently announced a “wide-ranging” Social Housing Green Paper.
But he said the “injustices” in the housing market “go beyond social housing”.
Homeownership is an “opportunity” that older generations “took for granted” and “now seems lost to so many”, he said.
He called it a “national outrage and the biggest barrier to social progress in our country today”.
At the upcoming Autumn Budget the government will also bring forward new “incentives” for landlords “who are doing the right thing” by offering 12-month tenancies to private renters and giving at least three months’ notice of eviction to tenants “who have done nothing wrong”.
