Mayor launches major new drive to improve housing standards in Greater Manchester

New pilot is first step in creating a Greater Manchester wide Property Check scheme to protect and empower tenants in all types of rented accommodation
Mayor will ask Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service to support the delivery of Property Checks across the city region – the UK’s first such scheme
Pilot is just the start of a new £600,000 programme of measures to help private renters who feel trapped in substandard accommodation
In another UK first, our Good Landlord Charter scheme will soon be ready to support landlords who want to improve their properties
A new housing law team will support renters facing illegal eviction and will help claw back housing benefit payments from rogue landlords
Greater Manchester will lead the way in tackling the housing crisis by creating a new Housing First unit to support our districts and oversee delivery of Property Checks

TODAY Greater Manchester is taking its first step towards offering a property check to renters across the city region, empowering those who feel trapped in substandard housing.

This morning, in Moss Side, the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham announced a £600,000 package of measures to support tenants and clamp down on rogue landlords, as part of a plan to rewire the rental system so it works for people, not against them.

The Good Landlord Charter, set to be rolled out later this year, will work with landlords who are willing to improve the standard of the properties they rent out. The first in the UK, the Charter scheme will cover social and private rented sector housing and set out clear, practical, and accessible standards to drive up the quality of renting in Greater Manchester.

For tenants whose landlords are not willing to work with us voluntarily, we will be launching a Property Check scheme – another UK first. This will help those who feel trapped by their housing situation by giving them the right to request a property check, carried out by local teams and followed up with enforcement action where necessary.

Data shows that, throughout Greater Manchester, around 23 per cent (56,000) of private rented homes and just under 17 per cent (82,000) of all rented homes do not meet the legal Decent Homes Standard. But since many tenants feel unable to raise complaints for fear of eviction, it’s thought the true number of substandard rentals may be as high as 40 per cent.

Our recent survey of private tenants in Greater Manchester found that in the past year:

43 per cent of private tenants had experienced damp and mould.
31 per cent had been without hot water or central heating.
20 per cent had experienced broken electrics.
20 per cent were living in a property with a leaky roof.
12 per cent were living with a pest infestation.

Greater Manchester is investing £150,000 in a pilot with Salford City Council and central government to explore how these checks can be used effectively and proactively and help identify properties that fall short of the Decent Homes Standard – a legal requirement when the Renters (Reform) Bill comes into law later this year.

The Mayor will be asking the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service to support the delivery of Property Checks. Our fire crews already visit around 30,000 homes a year, providing fire safety checks and work is under way to explore how they could deploy Property Checks as part of their work with our communities.

To drive forward Greater Manchester’s plans to tackle the housing crisis, the Mayor has announced two more new pilot projects that will come into effect in the next 12 months, supporting the implementation of the Good Landlord Charter and the vision to become the UK’s first Housing First city-region:

Tackling illegal evictions: The Renters (Reform) Bill will also introduce a new duty on local authorities to tackle unlawful evictions and harassment of tenants. Greater Manchester is getting ready by investing £300,000 to set up a new team of housing law experts, providing advocacy and support to renters and strengthening enforcement capacity. The team will work with and across the boroughs involved in the pilot to advise tenants and to identify chances to intervene when people are at risk of harassment and illegal eviction.
Using the benefits system to improve standards: When the Renters (Reform) Bill is made law, it will become illegal for landlords to rent out homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard. In many cases, rogue landlords receive rent payments through housing benefits, meaning taxpayers foot the bill for sub-standard housing. £150,000 is being made available to support a new pilot with Oldham Council exploring how the GMCA, central government and local councils can work together to claim back housing benefit from landlords letting out substandard homes.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said:

“Today we drive forward the next phase of Greater Manchester’s mission to tackle the housing crisis and get serious about housing standards.

“Everyone across our city-region deserves a good, safe, and secure home. It should be the starting point for a good life. It should not damage your health or be a source of concern and anxiety.

“Sadly, too many people in Greater Manchester still find themselves in those situations, trapped in poorly maintained properties and in fear of unlawful eviction. But the days of bad landlords renting out unsafe and unfit homes are coming to an end.

This new right to a property check for all residents, backed up with new measures to protect renters and take action against rogue landlords, will empower people across Greater Manchester and put us on course to become the UK’s only Housing First city-region.”

The three pilot programmes, currently in development, support Greater Manchester’s plan to make sure every resident in our city-region can live in a good, safe home. Galvanising this plan will be the creation of a multi-agency Greater Manchester Housing First unit within the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which will develop a strategy to drive up standards and bolster enforcement capacity across the board.

The Mayor announced the package of measures today (Thursday 16 May) on a visit to a housing estate in Moss Side, Manchester. He was joined by Cllr Gavin White, Manchester City Council Executive Member for Housing and Development. Manchester City Council is currently consulting on proposals for new selective licensing schemes, which require private landlords or their managing agents to obtain a license before renting out a property. Their proposals would see the total number of private rented sector properties in the borough covered by selective licensing schemes rise from 2,000 to just under 4,000.

For further information please contact the Communications and Engagement team on: news@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk. Find us on social media @greatermcr.

Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals