Burnham proposes compulsory purchase orders for private rented sector
The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has called for compulsory purchase orders for private rented sector (PRS) homes that are non-decent.
Speaking at the Resolution Foundation’s Unsung Britain conference in London, Mr Burnham set out his three points to fix the housing crisis.
As Mayor, Mr Burnham launched the Good Landlord Charter, which covers 50% of rented homes in Manchester.
Councils to purchase homes in PRS
Setting out his ideas, Mr Burnham claimed that with the right action, Britain could free itself from the housing crisis.
His first point included a new target of building half a million council and social homes by the end of the decade.
Mr Burnham then argued that councils should be given greater powers to tackle poor housing conditions in the PRS.
He told the conference: “We should give powers and funding to councils to compulsorily purchase homes in the private rented sector that are non-decent.
“You should no longer be allowed to rent out a home with the help of the benefits system when its condition harms the health of residents and drags down the surrounding community.”
He admitted it was a radical idea but insisted it was necessary to tackle the housing crisis.
He said: “Homes that were taken out of public ownership have been left in disrepair and exist to make money for absent landlords, while everyone else pays the consequences.”
His third point focused on accelerating a nationwide retrofit programme.
He claimed: “This will give millions of people better-quality homes with permanently lower energy bills, even possibly freeing them entirely from the worry of energy costs.”
PRS homes must meet DHS
Mr Burnham’s comments come as the government announced all PRS and social homes will need to meet the Decent Homes Standard by 2035.
Under the new standard, landlords will need to meet certain criteria, including that homes must be in a reasonable state of repair and provide core facilities and services, including a kitchen with adequate space and layout, an appropriately located bathroom and WC, and adequate protection from external noise.
However, according to government data, landlords will need to fork out £26.5 billion to meet the new standard.
Mr Burnham’s comments on fixing the housing crisis can be seen below from 15:00 onwards.
“You should no longer be allowed to rent out a home with the help of the benefits system when its condition harms the health of residents and drags down the surrounding community.”
Fear not Mt Burnham I will never be able to let my ‘Decent Homes Standard’ property to anyone on benefits, the cost of upgrading has made the rent unaffordable.