News from the Residential Property Investor, the bi-monthly magazine for RLA members other artilces from the June / July 04 issue RPI news archive

Conservatives aim to encourage, not discourage, letting - June / July 2004

Conservatives support protection of tenants from bad landlords 'but without making those protections so onerous that private landlords are discouraged from letting their properties', said Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning John Hayes in a speech setting out the party's housing policy. 'The home stands at the bright centre of our lives. Home is where lives start and end. It is where we return at the end of each day and at the end of all of our days. But there are far too many people ­ in our otherwise wealthy society ­ who either do not have a home or else the kind of home they deserve', said Hayes. Conservatives want to extend the right to buy to housing association tenants. 'Our aim is to create a more fluid social housing sector.

'Labour's approach might lead you to think that they'd cracked the problem of empty houses. In fact: more than 700,000 homes stand empty in England tonight ­ and have done so for at least six months', said Hayes.

'Many more properties ­ that fall just outside the definitions set by the Empty Homes Agency - are empty, unused and deteriorating.

'At last ­ after continuous pressure from Conservatives and others ­ the Government has reacted by offering an amendment to its Housing Bill. But, as usual, they've missed the point.

A fifth of these empty properties are owned by the public sector. Dilatory local authorities must be obliged to let homes quickly. In the private sector incentives are normally preferable to penalties. The challenge is to encourage homeowners to make vacant properties available for rent. We need to look again at legal, administrative and tax incentives and disincentives of bringing these homes into use. Before Labour destroys more of Britain's countryside it would seem sensible to fill these empty homes ­ over 300,000 of which are in London, the south east, the south west and the eastern region'.
 

other artilces from the June / July 2004 issue

• One sided justification
• Councils to have powers to take over properties
• Norwich launches empty homes scheme
• Conservatives aim to encourage, not discourage, letting
• Foresight needed to cut flood risks
• Government was 'bamboozled' into deposit legislation
• In brief
• Capital gains tax warning
• Remortgaging likely on back of interest rate hike
• RLA's homes2rent.net