Nottingham City Council launch help for Landlords and Tenats
Nottingham City Council uses national ‘Rent Freedom Day’ to launch new support for tenants and landlords
Today, (Wednesday 4th February 2015) is National ‘Rent Freedom Day’ and Nottingham City Council is using the day to highlight the work it does to improve the quality and management of private rented property in the city.
The City Council recognises the concerns and issues faced by private renters and is launching a new online ‘Tenant Toolkit’ today to help improve tenants’ renting experiences.
Available at www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/tenanttoolkit, the Tenant Toolkit provides information, advice and guidance about a range of topics, including:
· looking for a property
· viewing a property
· moving into a property
· maintaining a tenancy
· leaving a tenancy
· renting in shared accommodation
Nottingham City Council supports good landlords and good tenants and the new toolkit offers a clear understanding of what is expected of them both for the tenancy to be a success.
Councillor Alex Ball, Executive Assistant for Housing and Regeneration said, “I’m very aware of the challenges that good tenants can face. At the same time as increasing the quality of council housing in the city we are working hard to drive out poor quality landlords and make sure the right support is in place to help good landlords to get even better.
“Nottingham City Council has an established commitment of working with key stakeholders to improve the experiences of good tenants. Recent work such as the rogue landlord campaign has been a real success and I’m pleased that we’re able to build on that with our new Tenancy Toolkit – empowering law abiding tenants to demand good quality landlords and rented accommodation.”
The Tenant Toolkit is the latest in a series of City Council initiatives to support private tenants and landlords, with other recent successes including the development of the Nottingham Standard, a rogue landlord campaign, the introduction of additional licensing for homes in multiple occupation (HMOs) a year ago and work with Housing Aid to prevent homelessness.
Delivered by partner organisations UNIPOL Student Homes and DASH (Decent and Safe Homes) Landlord Accreditation Service, the Nottingham Standard is an accreditation mark unique to Nottingham that aims to establish an overarching minimum standard for privately rented accommodation across the city.
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The City Council’s Community Protection and Environmental Health teams received around 1300 requests for help with rented accommodation during 2014, up by 250 on the previous year following a successful rogue landlord campaign through the year. In January 2014, Nottingham City Council introduced a scheme of additional licensing for HMOs in certain parts of the city. The Council has received over 1500 licensing applications, but believes there are still 1700 that need to apply. |
Housing Aid has made good use of the private rented sector for preventing homelessness. Well managed good quality, affordable, private sector accommodation can provide flexible housing options for people in need in areas where they want to live.
Housing Aid ensures that the quality and management standards are met for prospective tenants by working in partnership with accredited landlords who carry the Nottingham Standard.
