Guardian exposes "tenants" living in garden sheds!
A disturbing story appears in today's Guardian and I highly recommend reading it. It is an excellent report: -
In summary the article deals with Landlords renting out accommodation consisting of what can only be described as "sheds". This highlights the crisis in housing, which is at it's most chronic in the Capital City.
21st Century Squalor
Anyone reading the report can only be but disturbed at the conditions that families are expected to live in. Overcrowded, dangerous, and dirty these "lettings" don't come cheap! Prices are being charged that are equivalent to monthly rentals for a 2 bedroom property in the north of the UK. This demonstrates everything that is wrong with housing provision in the South East.
Time for Rent Controls
Your blogger is not an interventionist by nature; however, the time has clearly come for some sort of rent controls to be imposed. The Coalition have capped housing benefits yet the so called reduction in rents is simply not happening. Families are being moved out of the Capital en masse to new locations in the Midlands, where those affected have no local connection. Towns in the Midlands are then facing shortages of basic services due to the influx of new residents.
Judicial Cat firmly calls on the Coalition to legislate in order to "rein in" the out of control rents now seen everyday in London. If this is not done then this country faces an impending social tragedy. There will be families on the streets, it really is as simple as that. This should not even be about politics, it is a moral issue. A government should ensure it's citizens are adequately housed. They are able to do it in continental Europe, so why not in the UK?
Defend ALL Housing Possession Cases
One way of bringing this matter to the attention of those in power is for tenants facing eviction to defend EVERY case on every single possible ground. Usually possession cases are listed for no more than five minutes in the County Court. Over 95% of these cases are undefended (with the tenant not even turning up).
If only half of these cases where defended then the system would not cope. Other work in the Courts would grind to a halt. Landlords would face months (or even a year) of delay and frustration. Quite simply the government would very soon get the message!
The situation whereby housing benefits are cut but rents continue to spiral out of control cannot be allowed to remain. It is this sort of social "hand washing", which allows certain unscrupulous Landlords to trade in the "human misery" so eloquently reported in today's Guardian.
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