Report to the People
12th January 2004
Private Sector Housing
You
meet them all in this job.
A
couple of months ago, a woman who had helped her mother buy her council house
– a flat she loved in a friendly, well-kept tenement – came to me for
advice.
When
her mother died, she decided, rather than sell the flat, to move in a succession
of undesirable tenants. Needless to
say, the tenants proceeded to make the neighbours’ lives a misery; the people
who could get out did; and the flat is now worth next to nothing.
This
individual, however, was not at my door asking how she could put right the
problems she had created. No.
She was asking if she could get any compensation, or force the council to
buy the house back at the price for which she’d bought it, because “the
area’s gone right down hill”!
“And
why exactly do you think that is?” I would have asked, were I not struck dumb
by her attitude.
Now,
to be fair, there are many responsible private landlords and I am confident that
those who are happy to let their properties – or even whole streets – go to
rack and ruin provided they can rake in the Housing Benefit cheques every month
are in the minority.
But,
as I know only too well from the letters, emails and phone calls I receive, the
way the private rented sector is working today is causing real problems in our
community. Indeed, as a number of
speakers in last week’s Scottish Parliament debate on improving Scotland’s
housing made clear, there are slum landlords across the country whose regard for
their tenants, their properties and our communities is, at best, negligible.
But,
we heard, time for the unscrupulous landlord could be running out.
At
the end of last year, plans for new laws to improve conditions in the private
housing sector were unveiled. A
draft Private Sector Housing Bill is to be brought forward during the current
Parliament and the Executive is set to explore the possibility of setting up a
national registration scheme for all private landlords.
Further,
these new laws will be accompanied by a range of complementary measures, such as
a voluntary accreditation scheme for private landlords and property managers.
Whether
they like it or not, private landlords do have a duty to let and manage their
properties responsibly. It is
simply not acceptable to let perfectly decent areas go “right down hill” in
pursuit of some easy money.
Back to Current Reports to the People
[ HOME ] [ News ] [ Report to the People ] [ Interact ] [ Links ] [ E-Mail ]
[ Copyright ] [ UK Online ] [ Scottish Parliament ]