Protecting Tenants in the Private Rented Sector

Housing is one of my key priorities as I understand how important this issue is to my constituents in Hackney South and Shoreditch.

That's why on Friday 28th November, I voted in favour of the Tenancies (Reform) Bill. This bill aims to give tenants more security in their home by ending retaliatory evictions, as well as raising standards in the private rented sector.

Unfortunately, as this is a private members' bill, it has little chance of success between now and the General Election in 2015. Government Bills are more likely to become law before the election and so I have written to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable MP to request that provisions on retaliatory eviction go into the Consumer Rights Bill.

We must do all we can for tenants in the private rented sector. Tenants have the right to live in a home that is properly maintained. We need to ensure that landlords adhere to proper standards.

More than 75 per cent of households in Hackney South and Shoreditch are now rented, which is almost double the national average. With one in three of these households being rented in the private sector, there are now more people that rent privately than own their home.

I'd like to see greater certainty for tenants in recognition that tenanted properties are peoples' homes. I support my own party's proposal to reform the private rented sector by introducing 3 year tenancies with the opportunity to agree rents over this period.

Under this proposal, those that require short term contracts will still have that option open to them, but all renters will also have the option of a more stable, 3 year contract. All tenants will have the option of ending their tenancy with one month's notice after the first six months, just as they do under current legislation.

These reforms will benefit both the tenant and the landlord by creating a more stable and secure rental market. Landlords will have a more stable income and a reduction in cost and hassle of vacancies and finding new tenants on a regular basis. At the same time, tenants will have the security to settle in their home and predictable rents so that they can manage their finances.