26 November 2014
Norwich Green Party general election candidates, Cllr Lesley Grahame and Adrian Holmes are calling for Norwich’s MPs to support the Tenancies Reform Bill which has been dubbed the ‘no revenge evictions’ bill due to its desire to end the practice by landlords. Shelter state that more than 200,000 [1] people have faced revenge evictions from March 2013 to 2014.
The bill will have its second reading on the 28th November [2] and represents a sensible, quick way to improve housing in Britain.
Norwich North Green candidate, Adrian Holmes, commented: “I give my wholehearted support to “The Tenancies Reform Bill” which seeks to protect those tenants who wish to get improvements to sub-standard housing. Landlords will no longer be able to evict renters in response to a legitimate complaint about poor conditions.
Under current legislation landlord’s can evict tenants for no reason after the fixed period of a short hold tenancy has expired. Passing this law will put an end to “revenge” evictions by landlords seeking to avoid making necessary improvements to their properties.”
This bill would prevent landlords from issuing a Section 21 notice for six months in light of local authority intervention. Revenge evictions can leave families homeless at short notice and force them to abandon homes they may have lived in for considerable periods of time. This bill will protect tenants and encourage them to report issues to landlords without fear of eviction and landlords should be able to tackle problems earlier and before they become very costly to repair,
Norwich Green Party has worked hard to improve housing in the city and have previously campaigned for the city council not to evict tenants in arrears due to the bedroom tax. Recently a Green councillor, Lucy Howard, organised a petition to guarantee affordable, social housing was a factor in the sale of historic Keir Hardie Hall. [3]
Norwich South candidate, Lesley Grahame, said: “Rights at home are as important as rights at work. Both have become increasingly insecure, making it harder to settle and play a full part in your work and your neighbourhood. This Bill is a welcome move in the right direction and we call for Simon Wright and Chloe Smith to support it on Friday.”
Links:
2. http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2014-15/tenanciesreform.html
Photo: Candidates Councillor Lesley Grahame and and Adrian Holmes.
