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: 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: 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

NEWLY re-elected Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has made tackling the housing crisis a top priority for his third term.  Today he unveils measures to increase the amount of social housing in the city-region, improve the standard of rented accommodation and end the housing crisis in Greater Manchester by 2038.  The Mayor’s announcements include:  The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “Greater Manchester can’t achieve its full potential as long as it remains in the grip of a housing crisis.  That is why I am setting a new ambition for the city-region to end it within a decade.     “Ten thousand new council homes will help to do that as long as stock can be retained.  That’s why we’re calling for the suspension of Right to Buy.   “Everyone deserves to live in a good, safe home and by building new council homes, and suspending the Right to Buy on them, we can give our councils the breathing space they desperately need to replenish their stock, so that all of those waiting in temporary accommodation or on the housing registers have the chance to access good homes.”  Access to social housing is essential to many residents in Greater Manchester, as capped rent increases provide some protection to tenants against the soaring rents seen in the private rented sector.   The average rental price of a two-bed property in Manchester increased by 12.5% between February 2023-24, against an England average of 8.9%. Limiting access to affordable social housing can therefore help fuel a rise in housing insecurity, homelessness, and families in temporary accommodation.  The new ‘Housing First’ approach aims to address the main challenges for housing in Greater Manchester – poor living standards, especially in the private rented sector and low availability of truly-affordable housing – by implementing a collaborative, multi-agency approach that can address issues by developing tailored, whole-system solutions. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

London Councils has welcomed a new report from a cross-party parliamentary committee pointing to serious financial pressures on the social housing sector. A London Councils spokesperson said: “Without more government investment it is hard to see anything but a bleak future for social housing. “Our analysis shows London boroughs face a black hole of £700m in their social housing budgets over the next four years, despite the desperate need to improve housing conditions and build new homes in the capital. With resources massively squeezed, it feels like we’ve been left with mission impossible. “Social housing is crucial to tackling London’s homelessness crisis. It’s a vital component of the capital’s social and economic success, and we should all want the sector to thrive. Boroughs are as keen as ever to work with ministers in ensuring more resources are secured for boosting social housing in London and across the country.” London is grappling with the most severe homelessness crisis in the country and over 320,000 London households are on social housing waiting lists. London Councils estimates that one in 50 Londoners are homeless and living in temporary accommodation arranged by their local borough. Boroughs are determined to keep increasing delivery of new affordable homes in the capital, including social housing, but high construction costs and interest rates have led to many projects becoming unviable without additional funding. In March, London Councils revealed a £700m pressure on boroughs’ housing revenue accounts (their budgets for managing social housing stock). This is due to costs significantly outpacing the income boroughs can expect from social rent levels, which are set nationally by the government and have led to a substantial real-terms reduction in funding available for social housing. The decision in the last Budget to remove councils’ ability to retain 100% of receipts from Right to Buy has further squeezed funding at a time when both need and costs are growing. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals