Taking on rogue landords

When I was elected as our GS, I pledged to be an activist General Secretary and as part of that I do my best to get out on the job with GMB members as much as possible. It was great to be out with members in Newham to see the work the council is doing taking on bad landlords.

I went out on a series of ‘raids’ with GMB members and police officers in Newham, as part of their crack down on exploitative landlords. We have a lot of members in Newham, but if you're not from there it's still worth reading on a bit, because a scheme they have in Newham could help a lot of other areas too. Newham Council has a licensing scheme for landlords in their borough and a dedicated team of police officers policing it. Working across the local authority, suspicious activity is monitored and reported. The enforcement team visit properties where there is a suspected problem. So, for example, if a property is supposed to have a family of 4 in occupancy, but there is rubbish being generated to fill a sports stadium - the Council could rightly suspect there is a problem. What I saw on the ‘raids’ was heartbreaking. Families living in a single room with one toilet in the corner. Bunk beds stacked 6 to a tiny room. Floors lined with mattresses. Dozens of people using one kitchen that was clearly meant for two people. Stories of cockroaches brazenly wandering around in the middle of the day and worst of all - a fully grown man sleeping in a meter cupboard measuring 2m x 1m and which is his entire existence. These poor people were often paying through the nose to live in conditions many of us would not think fit for our pets.

Newham's license means that Landlords pay for their license and can have the license revoked if they break the rules. That's realy punishment for landlords who are taking advantage of some very poor and vulnerable people. Not only does licensing landlords mean Newham can take action against these appalling practices, it has also lead to the discovery of large sums of tax evasion by landlords. Rather than go into detail here, this Guardian article from the summer sums up the situation: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/13/half-of-landlords-in-one-london-borough-fail-to-declare-rental-income. Every borough that wants to run a licensing scheme, which impacts on more than 20% of properties, must have permission from the Secretary of State. The decision to renew Newham's licence will soon be taken by government. This should not even be a debatable point. This should be something all councils do. It is of benefit to local families, local communities and potentially for the Exchequer too. Stephen Timms, MP secured a debate on this in Westminster, I am proud to say a number of GMB backed MPs spoke in the debate.

GMB is clear that more needs to be done to tackle the housing crisis in our country, and that means more power for local authorities to act, not less.

#GenSec