City centre councillors have given their backing to Shelter’s campaign to end letting agency fees.

Shelter is calling for an end to letting agency fees, which could be pushing renters into debt.

Shelter carried out mystery shopping with 58 letting agencies across the country and found that all of them charged renters fees to set up a tenancy, on top of deposits and rent in advance.

Average fees charged were almost £350, with almost a third of agencies charging renters more than £400 to set up a tenancy, and a further seven charging more than £700.

These charges are in spite of the fact that letting agencies typically receive separate fees from landlords to set up a new tenancy on their behalf.

In some of the letting agencies investigated by Shelter, fees charged to renters - sometimes hundreds of pounds – weren’t refunded even when, through no fault of their own, the deal didn’t go ahead.

Separate research commissioned by Shelter found that:

• 1 in 4 people who have dealt with a letting agency in the last three years said they had to borrow money to pay for fees.
• 1 in 6 reported cutting down on food or heating to meet the cost of fees.
• 1 in 4 say that letting fees have stopped them from getting a new home.

Shelter is petitioning politicians to end letting agency fees charged to renters to set up a tenancy, including ‘administration’ fees, ‘holding’ fees, credit check fees and ‘check-in’ fees.

City centre councillors Kevin Peel and Joan Davies said:

“We’re delighted to see this issue gain some national attention as we have seen the effects of exorbitant agency fees on residents in the city centre.

We support Shelter’s campaign wholeheartedly and will continue working with Lucy Powell MP to deal with the other serious issue of poor managing agents.”

Join Shelter’s campaign to end letting fees. Sign the petition

Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell has signed a motion against Government changes which deny communities the right to shape their high streets and stop payday lending and betting shops taking over.

On 9th May 2013 the Government laid before Parliament The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (England) Order 2013. It came into force on 30th May 2013 and changed the rules on high street planning without any parliamentary debate.

The new rules mean that a number of types of business will no longer have to apply for permission to convert a building for a new business use. This will make it easier for payday lenders, betting shops, fast food restaurants and the other businesses to continue their sprawl along the high streets and will make it harder for councils and communities to have a say in the future of their town centres.

City centre councillor Kevin Peel said:

“This is the opposite of what our high streets need. Nationally there are 20% more payday loan shops than a year ago and 3.3% more betting shops. These are taking the place of independent retailers, clothes shops and health food shops.”

Labour wants to give new powers to councils and local people to support their high streets, by allowing councils to encourage the types of businesses they want to see whilst cutting down on the spread of others like payday lenders.

Lucy Powell MP said:

“Our high streets should be at the heart of our communities but too many shops in Manchester are lying empty or being forced out by more and more payday lenders and betting shops.

I want to see real powers given to local people to stand up for their high street and ensure that it is somewhere that they and their neighbours want to shop and spend time.

The fact that the Government is doing the opposite of what Labour has been calling for by denying, rather than strengthening, the right of local people to have a say in the future of their high streets is simply shocking.”

- Tenants and landlords will have mandatory access to redress when they are let down by letting and managing agents.

- Government u-turn follows Labour campaign to secure better rights for tenants and landlords.

Legislation that will give mandatory access to an Ombudsman Scheme for tenants and landlords scorched by poor letting agents and managing agents will now be put forward by the Coalition Government following a concerted campaign by Labour MPs and Peers.

Labour secured debates in the House of Commons on 23rd January and 27th February to discuss private sector housing and our proposals for regulation of letting and managing agents to protect tenants and landlords, however this was dismissed by the Government.

Following a Government defeat in the House of Lords on an amendment moved by Labour Peer Baroness Hayter which would require letting agents to belong to an Ombudsman Scheme, the Government announced in a letter to Lucy Powell MP that it will be supporting this proposal and plans to introduce secondary legislation to bring it about.

City centre councillor Kevin Peel, who has long campaigned for regulation in this area, said:

“This is a victory for tenants and residents who are being let down by poor letting and managing agents who see no incentive to improve their service.

“A key aim of the housing campaign we started with Lucy Powell MP last year was to secure changes in the law that give better protections to tenants and landlords. We brought senior Labour figures to Manchester to hear directly from city centre residents about the need for action.

“This is the first step in that direction but we have a long way to go.”

Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell, who spoke in the Parliamentary debate about this issue, said:

“Labour have led the way on calling for regulation of managing and letting agents and for reform of the wider private housing sector which has too often seen individual tenants unable to guarantee even a minimum standard of service from agents.

“I am pleased that under growing pressure for action, the Government have finally listened and come round to the obvious reality that tenants should be guaranteed access to the Ombudsman. This is a really good first step and will be welcome news to many residents in Manchester, but we could go further still in ensuring that residents are not left to the whim of unscrupulous agents.”

Labour’s Baroness Dianne Hayter, who put forward the amendment in the Lords which forced the Government into action, wrote on her blog:

“The Government’s eleventh hour concession is a great victory for commonsense; and a victory for every tenant and landlord who rely on such agents to rent or look after their property.”

Labour’s Shadow Housing Minister Jack Dromey, who came to Manchester city centre last year to discuss this issue with tenants, tweeted the following:

“Government U-turn compelling letting agents to join a redress scheme for tenants & landlords must be the first step and not the last word!”

We’ll be campaigning to ensure it is not the last word.

Download Labour’s policy review document on private sector housing here.

Lucy Powell and your Labour councillors launch a housing survey to find out the views of local residents on landlords, letting and managing agents.

Since being selected in April as Labour’s candidate to replace Tony Lloyd MP at the by-election taking place in November, Lucy Powell has been out and about in the city centre with your local councillors meeting residents and discussing your issues.

One issue that comes up time and time again is the poor treatment of many residents by unscrupulous letting agents and managing agents. We’ve heard about service charges that are hiked every year but with no corresponding improvement in service, repairs that take months to be completed and letting agents charging exorbitant fees for little work.

As part of Labour’s policy review Lucy and your local councillors would like to see Labour commit to regulating private sector housing, including legal minimum standards of service for landlords, letting and managing agents. However we would like to hear your views on what the problems are and how they might be tackled by local and national government.

Fill in our housing survey here.

We have also organised a public meeting with Hilary Benn, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, which all city centre residents are invited to attend.

The meeting will take place at The Place apartment hotel on Ducie Street from 7pm – 8pm on Wednesday 3rd October.

Come along and give us your views. RSVP by contacting Kevin Peel.

The Department for Culture, Media & Sport is currently holding a consultation on proposals to remove the requirement for a licence to host a performance of a play, an exhibition of a film, an indoor sporting event, a performance of live music, any playing of recorded music, or a performance of dance.

Proposals to remove most forms of regulated entertainment from licensing requirements could lead to an increase in noise related complaints. In theory any bar or club or anyone who wishes to put on an event could have live music without any conditions on it or any oversight from the licensing authority. This will have a massive impact in the city centre where we have lots of venues and event spaces in close proximity to residential properites.

Residents may be intersted in submitting views to the consultation, in particular asking that the provision of recorded and live music stay subject to licensing regulations and are decided by a democratically elected licensing panel and assessed against the licensing objectives.

You can find full details of the consultation, the impact assessment and how to respond here. The consultation is open until 3rd December 2011.

Contact Kevin and Joan if you would like your comments included in their representations.

The Department for Transport is currently consulting on plans for the expansion of high speed rail in the UK. I and your Labour Council are passionate supporters of the YesToHS2 campaign to bring high speed rail to Manchester. Please see below for my response to the consultation. You can view the consultation online and respond here. Please note that the closing date is Friday 29th July.

High Speed Rail: Investing in Britain’s Future – Consultation

Dear Secretary of State,

I am responding to the above consultation to state my support for High Speed 2 as part of a longer term plan for a national High Speed Rail network.

I see HSR as absolutely critical to the future prosperity not only of our city, but the surrounding towns and cities and indeed the nation.

Cities and the businesses within them drive national economic growth. We are competing within an open global economy against countries whose cities have:

• greater local control over investment decisions;
• far better local transport infrastructure; and
• well developed HSR networks.

If the UK wants to remain a competitive place to do business, it must invest in its infrastructure and think big about the future of our economy. This is a one-off opportunity to generate long term private sector growth and jobs across the whole of the UK, not just the South East, rebalancing the economy and allowing businesses to thrive in and around other urban centres. Government should focus on the national interest of business and how it can create more employment across the country, rather than the protests raised from one small geographic area which is already well connected.

I view HSR as a central component of a coherent national rail strategy, which will release capacity, rebalance the economy and support growth in important economic sectors, which would otherwise be constrained through a lack of connectivity. This means that investment in local transport infrastructure should continue alongside that for HSR. There is no ‘either or’ investment scenario; HSR itself relies on better local transport infrastructure to maximise the economic benefit.

I have looked at the available evidence and believe that there is a very strong economic and environmental case for HS2 and HSR. A national HSR system is currently (perhaps conservatively) estimated to:

• directly create 30-40,000 jobs and support up to a million more ;
• reshape and rebalance the economic geography of Britain, closing the gap between the South East and the rest of the country;
• deliver £125 billion of economic benefits over 60 years (£111 billion direct benefits, £14 billion wider economic impacts);
• cut carbon by 1 million tonnes a year and safeguard the environment ; and
• allow Britain’s economic infrastructure to compete with the rest of the world for business.

Cities will drive Britain’s economic recovery, but need to have the infrastructure to be able to do so, including good connectivity to reach their markets. For major business to prosper it needs speedy, reliable access to other cities, London and international gateways. Businesses serving the local economy need access to more broadly focused companies in other cities if they too are to prosper. Business location and expansion decisions are based on a long term view; there is value to business in knowing that there is an agreed plan for the future, and this is highly likely to influence investment decisions by global companies prior to HSR completion.

Therefore, as well as supporting HS2, I would welcome a commitment, in relevant legislation and policy, to delivering the full HSR network.

I say Yes to High Speed 2.

Councillor Kevin Peel
Labour & Co-operative Councillor for Manchester City Centre

City Centre resident and Labour campaigner Kevin Peel has teamed up with Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls to launch a petition calling on the government to stop their massive, unfair cuts to police funding which will see 1,387 fewer bobbies on the beat in Greater Manchester over the next couple of years.

Greater Manchester Police are losing £134 million over the next two years alone and will see their funding cut by around 20 per cent in real terms over the next four years.

Local Lib Dems – Nick Clegg’s henchmen here in Manchester – backed these cuts.

Local resident and campaigner Kevin Peel said:

“The Lib Dems have failed to protect policing. These reckless cuts will undermine all the progress we have made to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in our area. I’d like local residents to join me in sending a message to Nick Clegg – cut crime, not the police.”

Sign our petition

Manchester City Council is being forced to make almost £110 million of cuts in the next year, followed by £170 million in 2012/13 after the Tory-Lib Dem government announced the financial settlement for the council last week. This amounts to a quarter of the council’s entire budget and puts Manchester in the top 5 worst hit councils in the country – despite also being one of the most deprived.

These grossly unfair and disproportionate cuts amount to nothing less than an attack on Manchester, while well off Tory authorities like Dorset have actually been given more money.

To put these cuts into context, it means the loss of 2,000 council jobs, libraries and swimming pools will close, back office functions at the council will be drastically cut, a number of council sponsored events will be cancelled and youth provision and services for the elderly will be scaled back.

Manchester’s Labour council has tried to ensure that frontline services are protected and the impact on residents is minimal – and has made a decision to freeze council tax for the next year – but the sheer scale of these cuts mean that unpopular decisions that would not normally be considered are going to have to be taken. This includes the introduction of parking charges in the city centre on Sundays and the extension of charging times on weekdays from 8am-6pm to 7am-7pm.

City Centre Labour Campaigner Kevin Peel said:

“Parking charges haven’t been raised by the Labour council for the last 5 years, but in the context of £280 million of cuts, the council has no choice.

“I would also like to see changes to residents parking permits to reflect any proposed changes to charging times to ensure residents don’t lose out, and will be expressing this view during the consultation.”

Contact Kevin with your thoughts about these proposals – call 07812 124 703, e-mail kev@citycentrelabour.org.uk or submit your comments online.

Manchester City Council are currently consulting local residents on the draft budget. Find out more and submit your views here.

Sign the Manchester Petition and call on the government to stop its attack on Manchester and give us back our fair share of money.

- £110m of cuts are being forced on Manchester City Council this year by the Tory-Lib Dem government, meaning 2000 job losses and cuts to services.

City Centre resident and Labour campaigner Kevin Peel has launched an attack on local Lib Dem Councillors over their support for massive cuts to the council’s budget, which are being imposed by their friends in government.

Kevin said:

“I’m appalled that Lib Dem Councillors support this Tory-led government when Manchester is being forced to make cuts of 25% to its budget, which will also hit the local economy hard.

“People need to send a strong message to the Lib Dems at the local elections in May that these are the wrong cuts at the wrong time.”