Local MP, Nick Raynsford, is calling on the Tory-led coalition government to protect the rights of private tenants in Greenwich & Woolwich. Nick is responding to housing charity Shelter’s report of the appalling problems faced by some private tenants because of rogue landlords. Nick warned that plans from the government risked damaging the standard of private homes and the quality of life in their communities.

Since the election, the government has announced it will sweep away key regulations introduced by Labour to protect private tenants. These include a national register of landlords which was set up to allow tenants to make basic checks on their prospective landlords and to enable Councils to enforce letting rules more easily. More worrying, is the plan to scrap compulsory written tenancy agreements, which will damage confidence in the private rental sector, and will completely undermine the legal rights of the tenant versus the private landlord.

The findings in the report show the continuing problem of dodgy landlords, at a time when the government is rolling back commitments to protect private tenants, many of whom come from vulnerable groups. The report found that over 90% of environmental health officers said they had encountered cases of severe damp, mould, or fire safety hazards in properties they investigated in the last year. Over 60% of environmental health officers said that more than half of their cases involved people from vulnerable groups.

There are almost 11,000 people living in private rented accommodation in Greenwich & Woolwich, all of whom could be affected if regulations on their landlords are relaxed.

The government also plans to remove laws which allow councils to prevent the spread of Homes in Multiple Occupation and stop the damaging effects of absentee landlords. HMOs in high concentration can change the balance and nature of local communities when poorly managed. Legislation brought in by Labour gave councils the power to prevent the creation of new HMOs under planning laws and reign in the problems associated with absentee landlords.

Nick said: “There are almost 11,000 people living in private rented accommodation in Greenwich & Woolwich, all of whom stand to lose out if regulations on their landlords are relaxed. Shelter’s research confirms that private tenants are vulnerable to abuse by dodgy and absentee landlords at a time when the government is rolling back key protective regulations and putting landlords’ interests’ over tenants’”.

Campbell Robb, Chief Executive of Shelter said: “It is simply not acceptable that people are handing over their hard-earned cash to live in houses that are run-down, squalid and in some cases even dangerous. Our investigation shows just how ruthless a minority of rogue landlords can be. We know there are people operating in cities up and down the county and it’s clear that this is a national problem that urgently needs a national solution.”