Bristol Mayor should intervene in proposed council rent rises on private properties.
I CANNOT believe that Bristol City Council's housing department is disregarding the plight of Bristol homeless by increasing rents on privately rented properties in the area of Stapleton Road. The increase amounting to approximately £20 monthly and due to become effective from April 2013 is intended to be applied to privately rented properties.
It appears to be a ploy to compensate for the loss of Government funding and the Government's freeze on the council tax. It will undoubtedly contribute to difficulties experienced by the homeless in their being able to find somewhere to live.
Residents already carry the burden of the council tax along with essential services i.e. gas, water and electricity and their respective safety certificates. Add to that the agency commission, insurance, mortgage and deposit protection expenses along with repairs and maintenance. In some cases there is the addition of a parking payment too.
At a time when housing benefit is being reduced it is the council who should be helping to reduce these costs. They should not be continually adding burdens on householders who are already struggling to make ends meet. As the elected councillors seem to be failing to support residents in the area they represent I hope sincerely that the freshly elected Bristol mayor can help to halt the ever-spiralling excesses before they get completely out of hand.
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I understand the mayor's proposals to enlist the help of the Bristol's business professionals to improve the council business acumen is not before time.
Barry Johnson
Filton
Comments
by lspanton
Wednesday, January 16 2013, 11:24AM
“Sorry - the weblink above should be http://tinyurl.com/bfplnkx”
by lspanton
Tuesday, January 15 2013, 4:57PM
“I'm writing in response to Barry Johnson's letter published in The Post on Friday 11th January, and again on 15th January. Mr Johnson says that he can't believe the Council is 'increasing rents on privately rented properties in the area of Stapleton Road' by 'approximately £20 monthly'.
I'm not surprised Mr Johnson can't believe this, as it isn't true. The Council has no powers to increase rents on privately rented properties – only the landlords of these properties can do this.
I wonder if Mr Johnson is referring to the Council's introduction of Discretionary Licensing Schemes? We're introducing these schemes as a way to try and improve private rented standards in the city.
We've done lots of research into which areas are suffering from poorly managed privately rented properties and where anti-social behaviour is also a problem. We've identified the St Jude's, Stapleton Road, St Marks Road and Robertson Road areas as those where discretionary licensing schemes may be most appropriate and where these schemes will offer the most help.
We already do lots of things to try and improve private rented standards in the city. We have teams who respond to complaints from tenants and we also give help and advice to landlords. We use all the legal powers we have but work informally where possible. However, our research has shown that there are some parts of the city where there are still problems with private rented accommodation.We're introducing discretionary licensing schemes as another way of tackling these problems.
We consulted widely about this over the summer, and the majority of people who got back to us were in favour of our proposals.
As long as they get their licence application in by 15th July, and comply with legal and scheme standards, most landlords who own properties in the area will only be liable for a £100 fee. The licence lasts five years, so if landlords want to add this to their rents it'll work out at £1.67 a month. That's a lot less than £20.
For more information, please have a look at our website at http://tinyurl.com/bvynnec
Yours sincerely,
Tom Gilchrist
Service Manager - Private Housing Sector
Bristol City Council”