Bristol housing crisis: group demands action on 'broken system' ahead of eve of local elections

Bristol Fair Renting Group has launched a manifesto to expose failings in the private rental sector.

The group says the city's rental system is unfair, unaffordable, unsafe and not easily accessible.

In the run up to local elections on May 6, it is calling on local leaders to fix the ‘broken system’ as increasing rental charges are driving people out of the city and breaking up communities.

Several mayoral candidates have responded to the group's calls. Current mayor Marvin Rees, Tony Baldwin of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition and Green Sandy Hore-Ruthven all advocating some form of rent control.

Liberal Democrats’ Caroline Gooch says she would seek to supend the sale of council homes to private buyers and measures to ease the pressure from student housing.

Elena Stephenson, a private renter and campaigner, said her rent is her biggest expenditure and thanks to the pandemic and being furloughed, her chances of getting on the property ladder is slim.

She said: “The conditions of rented houses are often appalling, and as tenants you have no power. You're always scared to push too far out of fear you'll be given a section 21 eviction – just for standing up for your right to a decent home.”

Between 2011 and 2020, private rents increased by 52%,according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, while wages lagged behind - rising by just 24% in the same period.

This means rents have risen at more than twice the rate of people's income.

Penny Walster, manager at Shelter’s Bristol hub, agrees the city's private renting system is flawed and "tenancies are too unstable".

She believes many people are being "barred" from renting a home if they claim housing benefits.

“We need local landlords and letting agents to be held accountable, so our city’s leaders must listen to the Bristol Fair Renting Campaign, address the power imbalance, and make fixing private renting a priority," she said.

What the campaign group want the city’s leaders to address:

• Tackle expensive and out-of-control rents and lobby the national government for more local powers to make sure that landlords charge fair rents for a good service.

• Tackle poor conditions more proactively to make sure the homes people are renting are decent and safe, and lobby the national government to permanently protect renters from retaliatory evictions.

• Tackle discrimination in private renting and create a local action plan to stamp out ‘No DSS’ policies, which unfairly exclude people who need housing benefit from finding a home. Benefits discrimination could potentially affect around 45,000 people in Bristol

Responses from Bristol mayor election Candidates:

"We need the power to introduce rent controls if we see it fit"

Current mayor Marvin Rees said: “Our manifesto includes a commitment to make Bristol a 'Living Rents City' and for us to lobby the central Government for the power to introduce rent controls.

“Rents in Bristol have gone up by over 50% in the last ten years - we need the power to introduce rent controls if we see it fit, to help address that. It's also worth remembering that the Council itself is a landlord - we've frozen rents for Council tenants this year, despite vocal opposition from other parties.

“We piloted a landlord licensing scheme - where landlords have to apply for a license before renting out their property - in St George West and Eastville to drive up standards. It's proved very effective, so we're going to introduce more across the city.

“We'll also lobby the Government to do more to protect renters - as well as the rent controls, we'll push the Government to do more to protect renters from retaliatory evictions.

“We, of course, oppose all forms of policies that discriminate against people on benefits. We'll work with Bristol’s Homes Board – on which ACORN have representative – to commission a review into discrimination against people on housing benefits and unfair evictions.”

“Everybody needs a home, but nobody needs to be a landlord"

Tom Baldwin from the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) said: “Housing is one of the key issues facing our city and I fully support the Bristol Fair Renting manifesto. As a private renter myself I know only too well how expensive accommodation is here.

“As a member of Acorn I’ve seen examples of appalling conditions and treatment meted out to tenants which the union has fought against.

“The TUSC supports rent controls, to cover both cost and quality of housing. The ban on landlords discriminating against benefit claimants needs to be enforced and the government needs to end ‘no fault’ evictions.

“Everybody needs a home, but nobody needs to be a landlord. If people can’t afford to give their tenants basic rights and to let accommodation at a reasonable price then the homes should be bought and let out by the council instead, along with the empty properties in the city.

“We need to massively expand the number of council homes so we can ensure genuinely affordable rents for good quality housing with secure tenancies and so the money comes back to the city, rather than lining the pockets of private landlords and developers."

“Cap rents and keep tenants secure”

The Green Party's Sandy Hore-Ruthven said: “Bristol's rents are rising uncontrollably and this is making life more difficult for many and for some it means they can no longer afford to live in the communities they feel they belong to.

“At worst, more are becoming homeless as a result. Things will only get worse as our population continues to grow.

I will lobby the central government to give us the powers to cap rents and keep tenants secure in their homes - making sure no one is unfairly evicted.

“We will expand the landlord licensing scheme to include a higher standard of housing and improved energy efficiency - reducing bills for the poorest.

“In the long run we will build 2000 new Council homes to make sure those who are most vulnerable in our city have a place to call home.”

"Suspension of right to buy"

Liberal Democrats’ Caroline Gooch said: “We want to strengthen landlord licensing provision, and require improved environmental standards in HMOs, and end the ability of ex-partners to end joint tenancies."

She wants to:

• Introduce a credit rating for reliable renters and we really want to build more houses, and more council houses, and better utilise the houses we've got.
• Challenge the Conservative government on the Local Housing Allowance level.
• Lobby central government to invest proceeds from right to buy sales back into local social housing.
• Control land sales to maximise social housing and force developers to maximise the level of social housing in new housing developments.
• Use compulsory purchase to deal with empty properties, and press for legislation to tax empty properties to push them back into the market.
• Ensure ‘affordable housing’ is actually affordable by re-examining the affordability level for development’s social housing obligation.
• Encourage the provision of more dedicated student housing to reduce pressure on family housing stock.
• Implement a planning cap on unsustainable growth by the universities until there is better provision of student housing.

The Liberal Democrat said by removing students from the HMO system and taking custom out of the market, would reduce prices considerably.

"Prices are high because lots of students packed into a house give a massive return that families can't compete with.

"The reliable renter system would benefit those in receipt of housing benefit/Universal credit as their rent would be guaranteed.

“We need a suspension of right to buy, as we sell off council homes at about 160 a year and historically a lot have ended up in the private rental sector at higher rents than the council charged. It's a complete waste and unfair on the thousands on the waiting list," she said.

“The Government meanwhile wants to extend the right to buy into the housing association sector which would make it even worse."

Bristol Live has approached the remaining candidates for a comment.