A couple of days ago the Government published Supporting people into work: the next stage of Housing Benefit reform a consultation which seeks views to inform reforms of Housing Benefit intended to ensure that Housing Benefit is better able to help people into work, is fairer, more efficiently delivered and represents good value for money for the taxpayer.
Section 6.12 declares:
The private rented sector has a key role in providing affordable housing to those on lowincomes. Many local authorities make full use of the private rented sector to givehousing options for those in housing need. The Government is recommending that localauthorities set up local letting agencies to develop a more coordinated approach tosecuring private rented sector tenancies for low-income households. We would also liketo see whether Housing Benefit could have a role to play in the operation of theseagencies.
The private rented sector has a key role in providing affordable housing to those on low incomes. Many local authorities make full use of the private rented sector to give housing options for those in housing need. The Government is recommending that local authorities set up local letting agencies to develop a more coordinated approach to securing private rented sector tenancies for low-income households.
Housing Benefit
- At a time when Lettings Agents find themselves squeezed out of the market by websites offering to “cut out the middleman” – is the Government proposing a State subsidised competitor?
- Is this fair on Estate Agents already struggling to survive the credit crunch?
- Would this lead to the death of the Letting Agent?
- Is the Government sleep-walking into a role condemned to die by new technology?
- Would you want to have your property managed and rented out by your Local Authority?
- Do you have more faith in being able to find a Flat to live in through a Local Authority letting Agent than a private one?
Please let me know what you think ………
Wouldn’t it be simpler to have this handled by established lettings agents who are contracted to provide the service to local authorities.
Services like Supply2.gov.uk could easily be used to tender this work out to local agents where there is a need for it.
It’s a good point, but then the system will resemble the current system, with the difference being that the Letting Agents are paid by the Local Authority instead of the Landlord. I don’t think the Government means to increase their costs!
I think we have to consider the skills a Letting Agent brings to the table:
Marketing, Valuation, Legal, Administration, Property Management.
Which of those are applicable to Social Housing?
An agent should be able to call on all of those skills (not to mention infrastructure) to add value to the process as and when required.
Who pays who and how is a matter for negotiation in the tendering process, but it shouldn’t be a massive conflict of interest for an agent to act on behalf of the L.A to find properties for which the landlord would appreciate the security and consistency of a contracted L.A tenancy, even if the rates aren’t necessarily top drawer.
My point was that of those skills (I may have missed some) only Management & Admin are relevant, & existing Letting Agents probably lead with their Sales and Marketing skills.
I wasn’t thinking of a conflict of interest, just that LA would be taking on a cost currently shouldered by the LL.
Your point about a new LA Letting Agent being a property sourcing agent is well made, and I hadn’t considered that. Goodness only knows why not – I get enough phone calls from agents asking me to place our flats with them!
Considering I have been involved in letting out properties for 20 years by myself and with the use of agents,I think its about time the local authorities took more of a hold in providing tenants and managing the situation. Tenant and landlord would be considerably better off and neighbourhoods would have more of the real people of London that have struggled and deserve to live in an area by birth and right. But the main point is that personally,the letting agent has become a known crook that has only themselves to blame for their eventual demise by greedily flogging the market to death. No longer will it continue.
Jack,
that’s quite a sweeping statement about Letting Agents, but an interesting thought that if the Government steps in to exclude Letting Agents from the rental process they only have themselves to blame ……..
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unfortunately, nobody will self regulate, as the current super-hyper inflation in the rental sector shows. it is doing this to the housing purchase market that has got us into this situation in the first place.
People are being thrown on the street by the government, and made to pay money for this too. estate agents know this but don’t change. if it was them of course it would be different, but this is where it is currently. nobody gives a flying fcuk, as long as you can get away with the crime that’s ok