Reading's glut of rental property

Published 11 Feb 2009 16:00 0 Comments

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READING needs a landlord accreditation scheme to help boost standards in private rented housing.

That is the view of the Lib Dems, who have been campaigning on the issue and whose spokeswoman, Cllr Daisy Benson, hosted a well-attended drop-in session on the issue at the Hexagon on Tuesday (10) night.

Cllr Benson, who chairs Reading Borough Council's housing, health and community care scrutiny panel, said: "The event went really well, there was a good turnout of around 30 people who had views to get across, many of them on environmental issues like rubbish and graffiti. We'll be working through the responses to produce a report."

In its proposed budget to be voted on later this month, Labour allocated £120,000 for increasing standards in private rented housing in the borough, which makes up 20% of all housing, double the national average.

Deputy Labour leader Cllr Tony Page said: "These additional resources will allow us to make real progress on this issue, and to work with Reading University, Thames Valley University and the Berkshire Landlords Forum to improve the quality both of student and other private sector housing and the general environment."

But Lib Dem leader Cllr Gareth Epps said: "Two years ago Labour suspended the landlord accreditation scheme; did shutting the scheme get the fanfare that restoring funding has done? Of course not."

This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 12 Feb 09

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