London Assembly Member John Biggs AM has questioned London Mayor Boris Johnson’s commitment to private renters in Barking & Dagenham after it was revealed that at the current rate of progress it will take him over one hundred years to hit his target of getting 100,000 of the capital’s landlords signed up to minimum standards. Despite promising to hit is target by May 2016, just 627 additional landlords have been accredited since Boris Johnson launched the scheme in late May last year. Mr Biggs said the Mayor’s failure will leave many of the 36,283 private renters in Barking & Dagenham with little protection from bad landlords.
In 2012 Boris Johnson pledged to sign up 100,000 of London’s estimated 300,000 private landlords to a new London Rental Standard (LRS). The scheme, which was eventually launched in late May last year, sets minimum standards for landlords and provides a kite mark for the various voluntary landlord accreditation schemes in London.
A few days after the LRS was launched last May the Mayor reported that there were 13,512 landlords already signed up to the various accreditation schemes. Yet according to the latest City Hall figures, only 627 additional landlords have signed up since then, despite an intensive publicity campaign. At this rate of progress Mr Biggs has warned that it would take a further 103 years before Boris Johnson hits his target to sign up 100,000 landlords.
John Biggs AM said the figures showed Boris Johnson’s system, which lets landlords regulate themselves, was “failing private renters in Newham”.
London Assembly Member John Biggs, said:
“With 36,283 people in Barking & Dagenham now living in private rented housing, it’s staggering that the Mayor can be so brazen about his failure to drive up standards in the sector. Boris Johnson’s abysmal record is made clear by the fact that with little more than a year to go he has signed up just 14% of the 100,000 landlords he promised by May 2016.
“At the current rate, it will take over one hundred years before the Mayor meets his target to accredit 100,000 landlords.
“We need real change in the private rented sector. Londoners need the peace of mind and security of longer tenancy agreements, caps on annual rent increases and an end to no fault evictions. Instead Boris Johnson’s half-hearted approach is failing private renters in Tower Hamlets and leaving them with little protection from bad landlords.”
ENDS