Tipping the balance of power against private landlords | Letters

Readers discuss the problems facing tenants in the private rental sector

It is odd that we would expect landlords such as Fergus Wilson (Private renting: Tycoon evicts all tenants, including an entire street, 30 January) to be anything more than capitalist rentiers. What duty of care does he have other than ensuring his houses are safe and sound, that he isn’t prejudiced when selecting tenants and that he abides by the law? And why shouldn’t he sell them? Surely that is the point of private housing – that the owners can sell up whenever they please.

The Tories fooled the public into believing the private sector could run better services and started the tragic sale of social housing, but we must never rely on private landlords to provide anything other than stopgap housing (although there will be many decent ones out there).

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Tenants have so few rights, a whole street can be evicted at once – that’s obscene | Poppy Noor

Other countries ensure people who rent are secure in their homes. What can’t we do the same?

Imagine being a mother of five and finding yourself evicted from your home without reason, with two months to find a new place, a new deposit and to settle into a new home.

Ellen Gavigan doesn’t have to imagine . She will be evicted in March – the third time since she began renting – because her landlord, buy-to-rent mogul Fergus Wilson, plans to sell the entire cul-de-sac of houses, putting all the tenants on the street. Wilson, who with his wife owns 700 properties in Kent, gets £600,000 a month from rental income alone but is selling up because he wants to retire.

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Tenants have so few rights, a whole street can be evicted at once – that’s obscene | Poppy Noor https://t.co/MCjzO5XG2g Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9

Tenants have so few rights, a whole street can be evicted at once – that’s obscene | Poppy Noor https://t.co/MCjzO5XG2g Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9 (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1090985668560539648)

Overcrowding in social housing in England soars to 24-year high

More than 300,000 households squeezed into too few rooms, official figures show

Overcrowding in social housing has increased to the highest level since government records began 24 years ago with more than 300,000 households in England squeezed into too few rooms, official figures have revealed.

Related: Council houses were once a glory of the public realm. Let’s return to those days | Rowan Moore

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Overcrowding in social housing in England soars to 24-year high https://t.co/eBD9NlGYiU Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9 (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1090942876228435969)

UK house price growth stagnates on back of Brexit concerns

Average price up by 0.1% – the smallest annual gain since February 2013, says Nationwide

Annual house price growth almost ground to a halt in January as fears over Brexit deterred buyers, according to Britain’s biggest building society.

Nationwide said the average price of a home rose 0.1% from a year earlier to £211,966 in January. This was the smallest annual gain since February 2013, when the rate was zero.

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