Leeds to get ‘ethical’ letting agency


Iain Dalton, Leeds Socialist Party and West Yorkshire TUSC convenor

In April campaigners put the argument to Leeds City Council that the answer to the housing crisis in Leeds would be a mass council house building programme and, as a more immediate measure, the setting up of a not-for-profit letting agency to deal with issues in the private rented housing sector.

The council’s executive board considered this at its 23 September meeting.

Damning

The council’s response contains damning comments on the quality of some private rented properties. Government data shows that 16% of private rented properties fail to meet basic legal standards and present “a severe threat to health or safety”. This is around 9,000 homes in Leeds.

But despite this low quality, rents are soaring. The average is £144 a week – more than the average mortgage repayment.

The council talks about a range of actions to tackle the problems in private rented housing. Unfortunately, its concept of an ‘ethical lettings agency’ differs somewhat from what Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) supporters have in mind.

The council intends to create a service for “property owners who have only one property”. While this would be a step forward, it is quite a limited letting service.

And the council has a wilful ignorance of the points we made about council house building. With a waiting list of around 20,000, the council’s current plans to build around 1,000 new homes is a drop in the ocean, especially when some housing stock is being demolished to make way for them.

PFI

Scandalously, the council is using rip-off Private Finance Initiatives to build these homes.

We will be continuing our campaign and Leeds TUSC will be organising a lobby of the council executive which meets to consider this on 10 February 2016.