Rayner will ‘make no apologies’ for new landlord standards
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Angela Rayner has vowed to “make no apologies” for new rules landlords must follow, as she faced a warning it will be “tenants who pay” for the measures. Conservative former minister Graham Stuart said it is “easy to sound morally righteous while you demand ever-higher standards” in the housing market.
He made his comment less than a week after MPs backed the Renters’ Rights Bill, which will now undergo scrutiny in the House of Lords. Deputy Prime Minister Ms Rayner described a “balance” between landlords’ and renters’ rights, adding: “People need homes that are safe.”.
Responding to an earlier claim by Conservative MP Greg Smith, that the National Trust is now leaving homes empty to avoid new “burdens”, Ms Rayner told the Commons: “We’ll make sure that empty homes are brought back into use and we make no apologies for asking that homes are of a decent and safe standard, people should be able to live in their homes without the risk of hazards that are dangerous to their health.”.
Mr Smith, the MP for Mid Buckinghamshire, said he heard from Bradenham Parish Council near High Wycombe last year, which raised concerns about National Trust-owned rental properties. He warned the charity is “now leaving them empty and not putting new tenants in, to avoid the burdens that this Government is placing on landlords” and asked: “Will the Secretary of State agree with me that there is a balance to be struck here, and what advice can she actually give areas like Bradenham who are now facing being an empty village?”.
