The Tories reaffirm commitment to landlords

Here's another story I picked up this week from here. My comments in (brackets).

Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps has reaffirmed the Conservative Party's commitment to ensuring local authorities work better with landlords. (Music to my ears ....)

Speaking at a joint reception at the Conservative Party Conference between Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people, and the National Landlords Association (NLA), the representative body for private residential landlords, Shapps went on to say that,: “regulation [of the private-rented sector] was a blunt instrument for getting results” and welcomed working with the National Landlords Association. (Considering it was under the Tories spearheaded by "The Iron Lady" that the regulation actually started, that's a bit rich, innit? But then again, the blunt instrument is an appropriate tool from the Iron lady.... Anyone remember the Housing Act 1988? As ammended in 1996? New Labour carried on the tradition with subsequent regulation, burdening landlords even more. But then again, we've always known Labour does not like private enterprise, and would seek to rob the hardworking of their well earned money to handout to the slobs who can't be bothered to get off their backsides. Its the fact that it was the tories that fashioned the blunt anti-enterprise instrument in the first place that is difficult to understand. I suppose it was designed to win votes ... in the same way as the decision to sell off council housing stock and not replace them. Ironic isn't it, that the government decides to sell off council housing stock, not replace them, and then set out to hamstring, bludgeon and penalise the very group of people who provide the much needed housing that the government delibrately opted out of... how rich is that, eh?? )

David Salusbury, chairman of the NLA, said: “There are now sufficient rules and regulations in place to ensure that the minority of rogue operators in the sector can be dealt with swiftly and effectively.

“The final piece in the jigsaw is encouraging local authorities to use existing and significant powers appropriately instead of introducing more regulation which only penalises good landlords. Of course, we are also encouraged that the shadow housing minister is looking forward to working with the NLA.”
 (I am really intrigued to see how the local authorities can be encouraged to use existing powers appropriately .... considering the haphazard way in which they interprete/apply the current regulations and the fact that they can't be bothered to think. Those folk are a law unto themselves. When a landlord challenges a local authority office about a decision made locally, they go "don't blame us, its the law and we are just following the law".  They when the actual law is quoted to them which shows their errors, they go "but the guidelines from government says ...".  and on and on. The council, often seen as government's goons, just wields the blunt instrument without thought for the devastation that it causes landlords. Unfortunately, the effect is ultimately more homelessness, as landlords will refuse to take on certain types of tenants-the very ones the so called laws were supposed to help. We wait in anticipation to see firstly if the tories get back in, and secondly what exactly it is they will do .... promises promises promises.... )