Blackpool North candidates what they will do about abolishing Section 21 and bringing about ‘renters reform’

Blackpool Gazette

The Blackpool Gazette and Blackpool Lead invited the candidates standing for the Blackpool North constituency at next month's general election to a hustings in which they fielded questions from voters.    The candidates standing for election on 4th July were each given 90 seconds to answer questions from an audience at a Cleveleys venue.    Six out of the eight people on the ballot took part in the event with Jeannine Creswell (Social Democratic Party) missing and a stand-in taking the place of the absent Lorraine Beavers.  In order of appearance on stage:  PAUL MAYNARD (Conservative Party) JAMES RUST (Monster Raving Loony Party) GITA GORDON (Independent) BILL GREENE (Liberal Democrats) TINA ROTHERY (Green Party) DAN BARKER (Reform UK) CLIVE GRUNSHAW (Labour [Stand-in])

Transcript

00:00actually look on the community chats on Facebook, but you've got about 10 different housing issues every single day.

00:07Now one in particular yesterday was a member, and she's been living in her house for 16 years.

00:13She had some issues with damp and mould, she told the landlord, she told the council,

00:18and now she's got Section 21 and has to be out in two months with three children.

00:23She's terrified, she doesn't know where she's going to live in two months.

00:27So after all that, the council hasn't been putting enforcement notices in quick enough,

00:34so they can't do revenge eviction, and the main question is,

00:39what are the candidates going to do about abolishing Section 21,

00:45and actually doing something about renters' refund?

00:51Abolishing Section 21 is in our manifesto, as is a rental car.

00:55And did you say that brought me into chat?

00:57Yeah.

00:58Ah, then on a daily basis, you guys did a great job, thank you.

01:04Any issue that comes from here needs to be sorted by the MP who's elected next.

01:12So whether it's Section 21 for eviction or anything, that just needs to be spoken about and spoken louder.

01:20Thank you.

01:22It's fair to say that property housing is one of the biggest categories of casework that I deal with as an MP,

01:30and I'm sure many of my colleagues at Royal would say the same.

01:33I think our biggest challenge as a Parliament, as a nation, is to get rental reform right.

01:38It's been very difficult for the last government to do that.

01:41I deeply wish that that bill had got through, and we're very supportive of the original intentions of it.

01:46So I hope that we are able to bring it back speedily,

01:49and the difference it can make to the sort of people that you campaign on behalf of.

01:56It's not a loony answer, it's a human one.

02:00I sympathise enormously with the mother and the kids, who you've mentioned, and anybody else in that situation.

02:12It's an awful situation to be homeless.

02:17Likewise, I echo those sentiments.

02:21I did touch on this earlier about it being such a huge issue within this constituency,

02:28and housing is another of those areas.

02:32Housing defines the poverty and the deprivation and all the ills of societies that we have within Blackpool and the Fylde Coast,

02:43because there's a correlation between that deprivation and crime and antisocial behaviour and mental health,

02:50all the ills of society.

02:53We need to resolve that by intervention, by making sure that the landlords make the standards of properties far better than what they are,

03:05more selective about how they work and the absentee landlords.

03:12So it's a huge issue, but the last point is we need an MP who understands and who cares, and with Lorraine you would have that.

03:26I'm very sorry to hear about your situation you've outlined tonight,

03:29and I've got to say that from my feedback with politics, that's happening up and down the country everywhere.

03:34Fundamentally, we've got a problem. There's not enough housing, there's not enough rental properties,

03:38because, and I'm sorry to keep saying this, we've got a population explosion and housing has not kept up with it.

03:43Well let me say to you, sir, Section 21 rent controls, whilst they sound like a good idea and they would certainly seem to address the immediate issue,

03:51they would actually force landlords out of the market.

03:53So what we need is a more fundamental look at how we provide housing, whether there's more through the council,

03:58we need to build more properties, we need to take the rogue landlords to task,

04:02not by changing primary legislation, but by licensing landlords.

04:05And that's happened in lots of places around the country, and it's been very effective.

04:08You deal with the rogue landlords, and you let the good landlords carry on doing their business providing homes to people.

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