A national campaign has been launched by tenants groups in reaction to the impending ban of letting agency fees.
The ban was announced by the Chancellor in his Autumn Statement with a consultation to follow before legislation.
The campaign has been launched by Bristol-based Renters Rising, an umbrella group launched in September by activists Acorn.
The aim of the new campaign is to make sure tenants air their views during the consultation and press for the ban to be introduced as soon as possible – which is exactly what Philip Hammond promised in his Autumn Statement.
A spokesman from Acorn said: “Renters Rising can organise renters into a powerful, permanent renters union, and together we can build the collective strength to win this and many more fights ahead.
“When Philip Hammond announced during the Autumn Statement that the Government is to consider banning letting agent fees, it came as a bit of a shock to us to say the least.
“Previous to then, the Government hadn’t given the UK’s 12m private renters much to get excited about.”
The aim of Renters Rising is to set up a “national renters union” which will involve the recruitment and training of 150 organisers, the mobilisation of 1,000 volunteers and the holding of a national conference plus days of action.
It says events are already organised in Bristol, Newcastle, Reading, Sheffield, Oxford and Brighton.
A fund-raising video has been put together.
Comments (9)
So why do tenants think that it costs absolutely ZERO to get them from viewing stage all the way through to moving in day?! Still blows my mind that they are all that stupid… their actions are going to put rents up, I’m putting mine up by £40 per month therefore my tenants will pay so much more in rent each year than they would have done in a one off fee. Congratulations, well thought through.
Whilst reigning in rogue agents ridiculous fees (with many reported to be charging £500-1000 a tenancy) is important, indeed, these action groups have been distracted by claiming what is essentially a small victory and may end up backfiring all together. It largely depends how this is legisalted but, based on a lot of trhe legislation rolled out in the last 15 years, likelihood is there will be epic failings on both sides (Tenants and Agents/Landlords). Howevr, as several have already picked up, this has nothing to do with ‘affordable rents’ or the provision of more social housing or secire tenancies.
As alwys its the ‘them & us’ mentality that does the most damage. Many of these acton groups hurl complaints at EVERY agent and will not discuss, negotaite or debate. They simply like to shout about what they want. I have tried, on many occasions, to make contact with the various groups operating in London to open a dialogue and try and organise meetings between them and forward-thinking, customer focused agents to enable both sides to express their issues and find a best way forward. The response- either completely ignored without so much as an acknowldegment or a generic rant lumping all agents in to the same basket.
Not too long ago I attended a Generation Rent meeting looking to see how tech/proptech could possibly be leveraged to tackle key issues in the industry. When everyone in the room thought I was a techie it was fine- the moment the room learned I was a dreaded letting agent also half the room shut down either retreating in to a huff that an imposter was present, made generic boring statements about letting agents or looked to pick a fight. More concerning though- no one in the room knew what issues we were there to try and tackle or solve. Basically, they wanted a solution to then apply to a problem. Quite a succint insight, from my experience, of a lot of this group action targetting landlords and agents alike.
Oh you mean Generation RANT!
They should shout louder for council accommodation if they want free accommodation. They want everything for nothing, maybe they could use their salaries to pay the fee’s if they are that concerned or are they not prepared to work for nothing!
Perhaps the 15000 who’ve joined in the last 2 years can get a job and donate to their own cause. perhaps they should move to China where everyone is equal but some seem to be more equal than others. live in the same house, eat the same food, look the same, live the same life. Maybe this is the future.
I guess this is understandable but NO ONE IS SOLVING THE TRUE PROBLEM. LACK OF SOCIAL HOUSING. The Private rented sector started small serving a bit of a niche market but Government asset stripping has pushed it to be the main stream supplier of housing. Forming groups that fight against one another does not solve the housing shortage. It merely deflects attention away from the government and local government who should be solving the problem by building social housing. It is those who are in need of social housing that get the worst deal and are most at risk from criminal landlords whilst the good and decent landlords become the target merely for being a landlord!
Oh dear. They’d probably stop rushing if they had enough foresight to know that they’ll probably lose money in the long run.
Once again, the average intelligence of a large group automatically decreases as more people become part of it. It’s not nice being part of a public that is clamouring for a change that will diminish them.
I think I’m going to donate so we can get this moving, why wait when the proposed amendments are already in place. 😀
Good god! Their ALL so passionate about their plea they are all having to read a script…..