Conservatism; the idea that wealth is a prerequisite for membership of the human race

[darkwaterfairy]

So the ohsonicefluffyandnothinglikeThatcher"liberal"-Conservatives-ANDTHEN-diluted-by-LibDems have decided to cancel plans already in progress to increase regulation actually partially re-regulate the rental market.

BBCnews: "Housing Minister Grant Shapps said the sector was already governed by a well-established framework. He added that the government wanted to focus instead on increasing home ownership."
Right, like thats worked sooooo well. Seems in the torysphere 2010 really is a year of plentiful council housing, low rents, zero homelessness a booming economy, sturdy benevolent banks, and post-inflation!

*headdesk*

The ex-plans were the result of the independant Rugg Report from 2008 and can be summed up as the following key measures;

• Landlords:
• A nationally administered compulsory register of all landlords. The licence would be revoked, and the person banned from being a landlord, if they did not meet statutory requirements on housing management and quality. A small annual licence fee income would finance a complaints and redress system.
• Buy-to-Let mortgages should only be available when subject to business planning and the inclusion of protections for tenants in the event of repossession.
• Initiatives to encouraging smaller, good amateur landlords to expand their portfolios and convert to being professional full-time landlords, and to help larger corporate landlords to increase their lettings and so attract higher levels of institutional investment.
• Changes to the tax regime should be framed to encourage landlords to view their letting activity as business rather than investment activity

• Agencies:
• Mandatory regulation of Managing Agents to ensure better quality management standards.
• Registered Social Landlords should be encouraged to enter the Management Agency marketplace. 
• Government bodies (such as LA housing depts and the UK Border Agency) should not compete against each other for private housing which leads to artificial driving up of rents and fees
• Social Letting Agencies should be set-up in each local authority area to;
  • to offer a competitive management fee to landlords in return for full property management.
  • to absorb all the private procurement for government bodies
  • act as an intermediary to mitigate the risk of rent arrears and deal with any anti-social behaviour, thus making Tenants on housing benefit  an attractive letting proposition to landlords
• Local Councils mandated to provide deposit assistance and rent-in-advance loans to Tenants on housing benefit who are seeking property by themselves in the private market.

• General:
• The overhaul of the private rental market to raise its quality, stability, and reputation to the level of social housing, thus changing it from being a 'last resort' for Low-income households, and make it tenable for long-term housing.
• Low-incomes households to only be pushed towards the private market once the sector is seen as an affordable, secure environment in which to make a long-term home.

But yeah, NONE of that centrist gentle something-but-no-where-near-whats-needed change is occurring now and 12% of households can apparently go fuck themselves despite support from within the sector for it as evidence by the support of;

• The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA)
• The British Property Federation (BPF) 
• National Landlords Association

But they are going ahead with one solitary change - From October all tenancies in the £2,083-8,333pcm bracket (inc. existing) will automatically become Assured or Assured Shorthold, as opposed to common law, thus providing basic rights. Now while I would never begrudge them base minimum right, so you can identify that terribly marginalised subjected group, here's some properties for rent at those 2 respective extremes;

.

Cameron =/= Thatcher, my arse!