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Campaigning
 The private-rented sector is heavily regulated. Already subject to around 50 Acts of Parliament and 70 statutory instruments, the Housing Act 2004 and the Welfare Reform Act 2007 add enormously to this burden.
The government seeks a healthy private-rented sector and has introduced wide-ranging measures in an effort to drive up standards. The NLA agrees with this objective and has cooperated to make the new measures as workable as possible. From the landlord's perspective, however, there remain a number of issues which the government should address if the healthy private-rented sector all parties wish to see is to be achieved.
Current issues:
Read the NLA Bulletin for the latest news:
• Bulletin no.2 : April 2008 [ 250kb PDF file]
• Bulletin no.1 : December 2007 [ 195kb PDF file]
Contact
NLA Policy team
- phone 020 7840 8938
- email
Latest campaigning
Review of the Private-Rented Sector
The Government announced before Christmas a review of the private-rented sector which would be carried out principally by Dr Julie Rugg of York University. This will be done mainly by a series of meetings with stakeholders and the NLA attended one such meeting in February. A further meeting between Dr Rugg and the NLA and the NFRL took place in March.
NLA Scotand
The formal launch of NLA Scotland took place at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. The event was hosted by Mary Scanlan MSP and guests included MSPs from all the major political parties, the Scottish Government, representatives from a number of local authorities and other stakeholder groups. The Minister for Communities & Sport, Stewart Maxwell, spoke at the event.
Section 21
NLA Chairman David Salusbury and Senior Policy Officer Elizabeth Brogan attended a meeting, organised by Lord Best, to discuss the CAB report on retaliatory eviction and to examine the issues involved. The meeting was unable to reach a conclusion but the matter is likely to feature in the Review of the PRS.
Energy Efficiency
The NLA continues to work to inform landlords of the introduction of Energy Performance Certificates. Elizabeth Brogan attended a meeting of the Energy Partnership for Homes Private-Rented Sector Forum.
Cutting VAT on Repairs
The NLA has joined a campaign to cut VAT on building repairs and maintenance work.
Consultation Responses
The NLA responded to the Carsberg Review of Residential Property. Policy Officer Chris Norris also responded to Firm Foundations, the Scottish Green Paper on Housing and to a consultation by the Conservative Party Home Buyers Group. In addition he is working on Manchester City Council’s consultation on selective licensing in South Manchester.
Local Authorities
Further discussions have taken place with Leeds City Council on their mandatory license conditions and the NLA has now been invited to join their Landlords Consultative Group. Paul Gott, the NLA Regional Representative for West Yorkshire, will attend. The NLA has also been assured it will be fully involved in any consultations carried out by Dartford Borough Council.
UIPI
As the European Union may play an increasing role in certain aspects of the housing market the NLA is working to establish a more effective presence for the UIPI in Brussels.
Sale & Rent Back
The NLA is working with other stakeholders on the issues surrounding sale and rent back.
NLA Policy Committee
As part of its process of developing policy that will best serve the interests of NLA members and the wider private-rented sector the NLA Policy Committee held an all-day session to examine the range of issues currently facing the sector, with particular emphasis on the Private Rented-Sector Review.
See the Campaigning archive for our earlier activities. |
