{"id":47482,"date":"2014-09-11T11:17:47","date_gmt":"2014-09-11T11:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=155d75a9a50bbb6490840b52ac7c3af0"},"modified":"2014-09-11T11:17:47","modified_gmt":"2014-09-11T11:17:47","slug":"press-release-stephen-williams-vows-to-outlaw-revenge-evictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=47482","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Stephen Williams vows to outlaw revenge evictions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ministers gave their backing in principle to a Private Member\u2019s Bill to stop the small minority of rogue landlords who, rather than meet their legal duty to keep their properties at a reasonable standard and remove health and safety hazards, instead evict tenants simply for asking for essential repairs to be made – on the condition that the Bill only targets bad landlords and cannot be used by tenants to frustrate legitimate evictions. <\/p>\n

Communities Minister Stephen Williams said Sarah Teather\u2019s Bill would help root out a minority of spiteful landlords and ensure that hardworking tenants are not afraid to ask for better standards in their homes.<\/p>\n

The Bill will extend the existing restrictions on a landlord\u2019s power to evict, where they don\u2019t protect a deposit or have a licence they are required to hold, to situations where a health and safety hazard has been identified by environmental health officers.<\/p>\n

Whilst the vast majority of landlords offer a good quality professional service a few rogues shirk their legal responsibilities and use the threat of eviction to silence tenants from rightly speaking out against sub-standard and dangerous accommodation.<\/p>\n

Accepting a petition from Shelter on revenge evictions, Minister for Communities Stephen Williams said:<\/p>\n

\n

Our private rental sector is a vital asset, providing a home to 9 million people across the country. So I\u2019m determined to root out the minority of rogue landlords that give it a bad name.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we\u2019re backing Sarah Teather\u2019s Bill to outlaw revenge evictions once and for all – ensuring tenants do not face the prospect of losing their home simply because they\u2019ve asked for essential repairs to be made.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ensuring a fair deal for good landlords and tenants<\/h2>\n

The government is determined to root out the small minority of rogue landlords \u2013 and has given councils \u00a36.7 million to tackle those in their area. Over the last 7 months 23 councils have used their share of government funding to inspect more than 6,500 properties, with more than 1,700 landlords now facing further action and prosecution. <\/p>\n

This Bill is one of a range of measures that will empower tenants and ensure they get a fair deal without introducing excessive regulation which would punish the majority of good landlords, force up rents and reduce choice. <\/p>\n

Earlier in the day (11 September 2014) Housing Minister Brandon Lewis announced a new Model Tenancy Agreement<\/a> that will help tenants to agree longer tenancies with their landlords to give them more stability. <\/p>\n

A new industry Code of Practice<\/a> was also introduced making clear the legal requirements and best practice, leaving landlords in no doubt about their responsibilities to their tenants.<\/p>\n

\n
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Office address and general enquiries<\/h3>\n
\n

\n2 Marsham Street
\n
\nLondon<\/span>
SW1P 4DF<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

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\n Contact form<\/span>
\n http:\/\/forms.communiti…<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\n General enquiries: please use this number if you are a member of the public<\/span>
\n 030 3444 0000\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
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Media enquiries<\/h3>\n
\n
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\n Email<\/span>
\n communications-newsdesk@communities.gsi.gov.uk<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\n Please use this number if you’re a journalist wishing to speak to Press Office<\/span>
\n 030 3444 1201\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government vow to work to outlaw so-called \u2018revenge evictions\u2019 that destroy a tenant\u2019s right to expect to rent a safe and secure home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47482"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47482\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}