Now the Glasgow group, which has previously forced Scotland’s largest council into a series of embarrassing U-turns, claims authorities have failed to deal with the blight that can caused by private landlords, with enforcement practically non-existent.
Plans include fostering links with activists in large urban centres such as Edinburgh, Stirling, Dundee and Aberdeen for a national network to increase pressure on the Government and include specialist housing courts and a regulator for the sector.
The campaign will be launched at a meeting next Tuesday in Glasgow, addressing grievances including:
- Antisocial behaviour and neighbour nuisance often associated with privately rented flats and houses and the failure of many landlords and the authorities to deal with it;
- The failure of absentee and rogue landlords and agents in dealing with upkeep and repairs in tenements and other flat types and the limited enforcement powers to clamp down on it;
- The lack of regulation and resources to enforce House in Multiple Occupation, planning and licensing law breaches, absence of enforcement against those who do not sign up to the Landlord Registration Scheme and difficulty in successfully prosecuting rogue landlords;
- The impact on property values, concerns about the “fit and properness” of many landlords and the catastrophic effect transient residents are having on increased numbers of communities.
Bill Fraser, a community councillor in Pollokshields, helped halt the Go-Ape proposal and is one of the architects of the new campaign.
He said: “If absentee landlords fail to control feral tenants, as they are legally obliged to do, noise, lack of repairs and anti-social behaviour make life a misery for normal families.
“The physical quality of buildings deteriorates, rubbish piles up and the character of the neighbourhood changes from a community with a shared interest in their environment to a transient area where many residents have no stake in its cohesion.
“A minority of the current generation of landlords, who often live in the affluent suburbs or abroad, regards property as simply a business and fails to respect an area’s character or its residents.”
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Meet on Tuesday, 6th December, 7.00pm
Elim Church
42 Inglefield St
Govanhill
G42 7AT
December 5, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Dear Glasgow Residents Network
Thank you very much for bringing this topic to everyone’s attention. I was born, brought up and live in Glasgow’s West End. I have seen our once beautiful family, bohemian, eclectic and multi-ethnic neighbourhood turned into a virtual slum by dint of absentee landlords, multiple occupancy, chain high street shops and the City Council’s determination to turn the west of our city into a leisure destination along the lines of the now discredited Temple Bar in Dublin.
I am sickened by trawling through morning-after-the-night-before litter and body fluids. I am exhausted from calling the factor, environmental health office and licensing department to report squalor and trouble in my close, street and neighbourhood.
I support your campaign 100% and wish you well in efforts to restore some kind of pride to so many areas of our wonderful city.
Thank you
Roberta Doyle
December 14, 2011 at 12:15 am
Great to hear from you Roberta.
The campaign is hoping to be in touch with people across Glasgow to provide testimony like yours.
If you are willing to be interviewed about your experiences, please do contact nick.durie[AT]googlemail.com, who is working on this for the campaign in the North of the city. We can change this situation.
Cheers now,
GRN
December 10, 2011 at 12:29 am
[...] towards a sustainable private rented sector in EnglandThe forgotten battle on Housing BenefitAn important meeting on Tuesday for Glasgow residents /* [...]