A new consumer rights revolution for renters

And what of those people wishing to rent who do not qualify for priority in social housing?

Labour promises to protect those already renting, particularly from the private sector.  Labour promises to improve standards, security and affordability in a new consumer rights revolution for renters.

Both would-be owner occupiers and people living in the private rented sector in Basingstoke have been badly served by the Tories.  In the last few years rents in the private sector have risen considerably. As a result, is has become close to impossible for first time buyers to save the increasingly large deposits required by lenders.  In many cases the rent payable is greater than the mortgage repayments would be on a comparable house!

Many people who have owned their own home for a while may feel satisfied at the increase in value of their homes. What many are also finding, however, is that their children simply can’t afford to start off in the same way they did.

Basingstoke Labour Councillors created, in the early 2000s, the Vulnerable Tenants Protocol. This was a landmark commitment, recognised nationally and in Europe, as a huge step in partnership working protecting people in the private and public housing sector. One key initiative introduced was the rent deposit scheme. Where people could get help in securing a home in the rented sector as the Council would help them with that upfront cost of a rent deposit. Labour Councillors want to renew these initiatives and add to them to tackle today’s housing crisis. We need that innovative ‘can do’ approach reinvigorated. We need to break the Tory cycle of neglect and division where they pit people against each other for the shortage of homes that exist. We can do a lot better because Labour Councillors believe in Basingstoke.