Yet more change at the top for housing policy

We’ve seen yet another change in Housing Minister.  Following the news that David Davis resigned the role of Brexit Secretary, the Housing Minister who was in place for exactly six months, Dominic Raab, has taken up the role of leading the UK through the last few months of Brexit negotiations. The new minister in charge of housing has been named as Kit Malthouse who was formerly Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Support, Housing and Child Maintenance at the Department for Work and Pensions.  Kit has been an MP for just three years.

This news comes just two months after a previous cabinet reshuffle that saw the former Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government being promoted to Home Secretary after just 111 days since the role was created earlier this year. This latest reshuffle is a frustrating development for our industry as we witness yet another change at the top of our sector.  

However, it seems the pressure regarding one particularly controversial housing policy stayed with Sajid Javid when he moved to the Home Office.  Just days after as he took up his new role in May, the Residential Landlords Association joined calls for him to review the effectiveness and fairness of the Right to Rent legislation, which was rolled out in England in 2016.

It seems the move is gathering pace. In June the High Court gave the go ahead for a judicial review of the legislation. Meanwhile the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants argue that Right to Rent leads to discrimination and has launched a crowdfund appeal to raise £15,000 to help fund the legal challenge.

Felicity J. Lord agrees the UK should be able to effectively tackle illegal immigration, however we have always held the belief that the Private Rented Sector shouldn’t be relied upon to act as border control. 

Whilst we await the judicial review with interest it isn’t clear what the timetable for this process will be, therefore in the meantime we continue to encourage landlords to ensure they comply with the current legislation, without discriminating against prospective tenants.  We offer an easy, efficient solution to the Right to Rent legislation, by ensuring you gather the right documents and securely store the evidence.