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27/01/2010

MP's campaign success on balanced communities

Picture of Roberta and other MPs with Minister

Roberta's campaign to get balance in communities was today proved successful as the Government announced its plans to improve standards in the private rented sector and implement ‘Use Classes Orders' to give councils more powers to determine how properties can be used.

 

Roberta said, "What the Government announced today is exactly what we have been campaigning for.  I founded and chair the All-Party Group for Balanced and Sustainable Communities to urge the Government to take the right action to achieve this and today it has done so."


The measures announced will help control the spread of high concentrations of shared rented homes and tackle bad landlords.


Local councils will be given new powers to manage the spread of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in cities like Durham and to take action to ensure that property managed and to make sure communities remain sufficiently mixed.

 

A large majority of the people who responded to the Government's consultation supported changes to Use Classes Orders to enable councils to have more control over the spread of these types of properties within their area and the Government has accepted that.

 

The Minister also published plans to give councils extra flexibility to license landlords, requiring safe and quality rented accommodation in neighbourhoods where large number of sub-standard properties can be a magnet for community problems.

 

Additionally the Minister today confirmed that detailed work is underway for a new National Landlords Register to help raise the standards of private rented accommodation.

  

Roberta also said,


"I am extremely pleased that councils will have more powers to end the high concentration of HMOs and provide more balance to our communities.  We in the group have been campaigning for these changes for some time and it is great that our efforts have paid off.


"I want to thank the Housing Minister, John Healey MP, for listening to the concerns of MPs and people around the country.  I also want to pay tribute to the campaigning work done by the members of the All-Party group and the Balanced and Sustainable Communities Forum in Durham which has been extremely supportive and fought a very active local campaign too.


"We want communities which are balanced and provide a mix of private and social housing, rented and owner-occupied.  Today's announcement should help bring that about."

 

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