Agenda and minutes
Housing and Regeneration Committee - Tuesday 18 December 2012 10.00 am

To receive any apologies for absence and any announcements from the Chair.

1.1  The Chair welcomed the guests, members of the public who were attending to hear the Committee’s discussion on London’s private rented sector and asked officers, Members and guests in attendance to introduce themselves.

The Committee is recommended to:

(a)  Note as disclosable pecuniary interests the list of memberships of functional bodies and London Borough Councils, as set out in the table at Agenda Item 2;

(b)   Declare any disclosable pecuniary interests in specific items listed on the agenda and take any necessary action regarding withdrawal following such declaration(s); and

(c)   Note any further declarations of relevant interests (including any interests arising from gifts and hospitality received which are not at the time of the meeting reflected on the Authority’s register of gifts and hospitality, and noting also the advice from the GLA’s Monitoring Officer set out at Agenda Item 2), with the relevant Member(s) taking any necessary action regarding withdrawal from the meeting for related items of business following any such declaration(s).

2.1  Resolved:

(a)  That the list of memberships of functional bodies and London borough councils, as set out in the table at Item 2, be noted as disclosable pecuniary interests;

(b)  That gifts and hospitality received by Members, as set out on the Authority’s gifts and hospitality register be noted; and

(c)  That Stephen Knight’s disclosable pecuniary interests as a Member of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and as a Member of the London Borough of Richmond also be noted.

The Committee is recommended to confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2012 to be signed by the Chair as a correct record.

3.1  Resolved:

That the minutes from the meeting held on 7 November 2012 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

Report of the Executive Director of Secretariat

Contact:  Camelia Thomas; [email protected]; 020 7983 4795.

The Committee is recommended to note the completed and outstanding actions arising from the previous meeting of the Committee.

4.1  The Committee received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat.

4.2  Resolved:

That the outstanding and completed actions arising from the previous meeting of the Committee be noted.

Report of the Executive Director of Secretariat

Contact: Lorraine Ford; [email protected]; 020 7983 4394. 

That Committee is recommended to approve the proposed scope of the investigation and invited experts for discussion at the Committee’s meeting on 23 January 2013 on the role of housing associations in meeting London’s housing need.

5.1  The Committee received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat.

5.2  Resolved:

That the proposed scope of the investigation and the list of invited experts for the discussion at the Committee’s meeting on 23 January 2013 on the role of housing associations in meeting London’s housing needs be approved, and that it be agreed to discuss further, informally, the scope that had been agreed.

5.3  In accordance with Standing Order 2.2D the Chair announced that he would take Items 6 and 7 in a different order from that set out in the agenda.

Report of the Executive Director of Secretariat

Contact:  Paul Watling; [email protected]; and Lorraine Ford, [email protected], 020 7983 4393/4394.

The Committee is recommended to note the report updating Members on the status of various items on the Committee’s work programme and the main items for the remainder of the Assembly Year 2012/13.

6.1    The Committee received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat.

6.2  Resolved:

That the report updating Members on the status of various items on the Committee’s work programme and the main items for the remainder of the Assembly Year 2012/13 be noted.

Report of the Executive Director of Secretariat

Contact:  Paul Watling; [email protected]

The Committee is recommended to note the report as a background to discussing with experts issues surrounding tenant and landlord complaints, and improving awareness of private sector tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities in the sector.

7.1  The Committee received the report of the Executive Director of Secretariat.

7.2  The following guests attended the meeting to answer the Committee’s questions on London’s Private Rented Sector:

·  David Lawrenson, LettingFocus;

·  Ben Reeve-Lewis, Tenancy Relations Officer, Housing Law Trainer and Journalist;

·  Jon Dalton, Head of Housing Needs, London Borough of Harrow;

·  Geoff Fimister, Social Policy Officer, Citizens Advice Bureau; and

·  Heather Kennedy, Digs

7.3  A transcript of the discussion is attached at Appendix 1.

7.4  During the course of the conversation Heather Kennedy committed to providing the Committee with further information on the estimated percentage of landlords that use letting agents to find tenants for their properties.

7.5  Resolved:

(a)  That the report and discussion be noted, and

(b)  That it be agreed to write to the guests with follow-up questions on London’s private sector.

The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled for 23 January 2012 at 10am in Committee Room 4, City Hall.

8.1  Resolved:

That the next meeting of the Housing and Regeneration Committee would be held on 23 January 2012 at 10.00am in Committee 4, City Hall.

9.1  There was no other business that the Chair considered urgent.

10.1  The meeting ended at 12. 41pm.