At the most recent meeting of Bury Council, the team of Lib Dem councillors were successful in getting the Council to agree to take more action to stand up for private renters.

Across Bury around 14% of all housing is private rented housing, meaning private landlords are a major provider of housing in the Borough. Our view is that it is great that people wish to invest in housing in the Borough and provide options for housing in the area.

The vast majority of private landlords are good and responsible landlords, but many people get in touch with us with concerns about the minority who might treat tenants badly and leave houses in a poor state of upkeep which can bring down a local neighbourhood.

A motion brought to Bury Council by Lib Dem Councillors, supported by other parties and now the policy of the Council called for:

– the Government to take more action, and take further the powers to tackle ‘rogue landlords’ and ‘revenge evictions’
– lobby the Government to move towards a compulsory licensing scheme for private landlords.
– Bury Council to extend its own Landlord Accreditation Scheme – currently only 1.5% of properties are part of the scheme – we would like to see accreditation as the ‘norm’ so that tenants know that a house they are renting is part of an approved scheme
– look at extending the ‘paperless bond’ deposit support scheme, which is currently only available to people in certain circumstances and eligible for Housing Benefit.

Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Tim Pickstone said:
“Although the vast majority of rented accommodation is great, there are examples everywhere of houses that are badly kept and where landlords are exploiting their tenants. What we would like to see is a much more professional system where private landlords need a kind of license. Local government also needs to be adequately resourced to provide advice to private tenants.”

The Bury Times wrote up the debate here.