Robert Halfon MP backs major new law to support council house tenants in Harlow
News / Mon 14th Nov 2022 at 10:10am
EARLIER last week, the Government’s new Social Housing (Regulation) Bill was supported in Parliament by Harlow’s MP, Robert Halfon.
The proposed new law will introduce new enforcement powers to ensure the landlord (the Council or Housing Association) meets their obligations such as carrying out quick repairs to properties and putting the tenant at the heart of what they do. There are over 9,000 council homes in Harlow and more owned by Housing Associations as social housing.
Mr Halfon has campaigned for many years to ensure that not only are “Harlow homes for Harlow families”, but furthermore, that residents are treated properly by their landlord.
This new law will improve the treatment of residents in social housing with new powers to deal with the failings of the landlord if they do not put the resident at the heart of what they do. Residents will have new rights to hold their landlord to account and it will be enforced with new powers if necessary. Particular focus is given in the new law to safety issues, transparency of the landlord and proper tenant engagement.
Commenting on his support for the new proposed law, Robert Halfon MP said: “I have campaigned for many years to improve the quality of social housing in our town, as well as building new council homes for Harlow families. This new law is set to massively improve the lives of residents living in the more than 9,000 social homes in Harlow.
“I strongly welcome these new measures which I am confident will improve the deal so many residents get. I will continue to raise any issues residents have with their Council or Housing Association home, with the Council or Housing Association to ensure they are resolved as quickly as possible, and I am sure these new measures will help with that too.
“I am also delighted that Harlow Council is building hundreds of new high-quality council homes for Harlow families with many gaining planning permissions each week. This is fantastic news for Harlow families.”
Voteforme
2022-11-14 11:28:29
Perhaps we also need something to ensure that Essex county council meet their obligations like filling in potholes and ensuring our cycle tracks/paths are fit and safe to use
Nicholas Taylor
2022-11-14 11:32:55
Lets not forget that his Party has overseen a 69% reduction in the number of Council homes in this Country since 1980 (in Harlow from 21,000 to just 9,000), placed Council's in a financial straightjacket which stopped homes lost to Right to Buy from being replaced by new ones and indeed maintaining the ones they had left and there are now 3.8 million people on Council house waiting lists (5000 in Harlow alone). He also supported his Governments proposal to the loss of a secure tenancy for new tenants, giving them only a 5 year tenancy after which they would have to move out. As for building hundreds of new homes in Harlow, well most of that was in Labour's Local Development Plan.
Mike
2022-11-14 16:13:03
a lot of the work undertaken by HC at my property has been shoddy at best like a leaking kitchen ceiling from the flat above, plastered and stopped leak , they promised someone would paint it but sent a electrician instead, new toilet put in and it now sits in the middle of the bathroom and wobbles because the wrong screws put in, I could go on they are a nightmare both tories and Labour Councils
Bobobah
2022-11-14 19:07:15
Been waiting over a year for a repair to be made on my home - don't hold out much hope.
David Forman
2022-11-14 23:06:57
Mike, you can complain to your local ward councillor. You will find a list of them in the following link and by using 'find your councillor' will discover the three that represent your locality: https://moderngov.harlow.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1
Nicholas Taylor
2022-11-15 17:40:34
David, contacting a Councillor should make no difference to when and how any individual issue is dealt with, if it were everyone would do this. It is not fair on those who are patiently waiting for work to be done, each job is given a priority and a case should not jump the queue just because a Councillor has been approached. What Councillor Edwards has highlighted is the huge backlog of work and Councillors collectively should be finding out what has caused the problem and if they think appropriate take action to help resolve all such cases. I suspect the 'profit' made by HTS in recent years, which in reality is just an underspend, has meant that delays in getting work done have gone on for some years.
Jo Revitt
2022-11-15 22:20:14
After last weeks shambolic admission by the Council of the number and length of time repairs are taking Harlow Council, it will certainly be interesting to see them made accountable by law. A reaction to the numbers raised by Robert would be most welcome. Our local Council tenants are getting a raw deal and yet the a Council will bask in any glory they can find.
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