In the last few weeks, meeting residents throughout the ward, I have lost count of the number of desperate people who are private tenants threatened with eviction through no fault of their own. The housing charity shelter reported today on the record number of evictions nationally. In Woolwich Common, many rogue landlords are simply chucking out decent hard working tenants who pay their rent on time to make more money from new tenants.
People are often given just a couple of weeks' notice to find somewhere else and uproot. Where children are involved, this is even more unsettling and disruptive to their education if they have to move school and move away from friends and local childcare circles and networks.
And then the choices facing those facing eviction are grim, with that awful balance between what you can afford with ever rising rents and somewhere respectable in a reasonable state.
This is why I'm so pleased that Labour has launched new policies that will mean 3 year tenancies with only inflation adjustments in those three years, a cap on the often inflated charges for moving in from letting agents and tenants being able to.mpve out with one month's notice. Obviously, we need a Labour Government for a change of policy but a Labour council can try beforehand to ask landlords and letting agencies to sign up to a voluntary code rather like Newham have done with their landlord registration scheme.
Also, this week our excellent Labour MP Nick Raynsford made the case in Parliament for all private landlords to be obliged to fit smoke alarms in each flat. This is long overdue but will still need agreement from Government.
Obviously, many people would like to own their own home but for most this is impossible in London and for some it doesn't suit their needs. So more and more are renting. We need to all work together to encourage good landlords high standards and proper protection for all tenants
David Gardner
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