A beginner’s guide to tackling housing blight in East Durham

I noticed a comment on Facebook the other day from a local Reform UK member who appears to think that the local housing issues they’ve come across recently have just appeared out of thin air over the past few weeks. This is their comment in full:

'Watching BBC Look North tonight was an eye opener, seeing press out in Easington, the village that was filled with false promises for decades, and has been left to wreck and ruin.

'As you know, I held my first Reform UK meeting at Easington Social Welfare Centre, in which constituents stated they feel forgotten about.

'The local [Easington] councillor was out and about repeating what I was saying about the empty houses, and the MP was speaking about getting the coal from under their feet, the complete opposite of what his party leader is saying.

'Why is this only being spoke about now I wonder?'

The facts tell a very different story of course. Just about everyone who’s taken an active interest in our communities over the years will know that we’ve been out on the streets dealing with housing-related issues for some time, almost always working against significant odds, so I felt I had to respond to those comments, if only to let the newcomers from Reform UK know that the issues they think are ‘just being spoken about now’ have actually been the focus of intense debate and local activity for a hell of a lot longer than they realise. 

I’ve posted my response below in full, along with a link to all the relevant background information:

Anyone with even a passing interest in our communities will know that housing issues have been 'spoken about' for quite some time, not just the past week and a half. 

 

A few years ago, in response to residents' concerns about problems caused in the main by some absent landlords in the private-rented sector, we set out to establish a selective licensing scheme to bring some much-needed regulation to the sector and hold irresponsible landlords to account for the condition of their properties. 

 

Almost immediately it became obvious that the government was determined to make it as difficult as they could, putting obstacles in the way and forcing us to jump through hoops to get something off the ground. This dragged the whole process on for much longer than it should have done, but we persisted and eventually got a scheme established over a year ago. 

 

Unfortunately since then the coalition controlling the council has dragged its heels over fully implementing the licensing scheme. Their complacency, and in some cases outright resistance, is failing our residents, our private sector tenants and our communities as a whole. Furthermore, it undermines the good work and goodwill of the overwhelming majority of caring, responsible local landlords who react immediately when local concerns are raised. 

 

It's obvious that we need a fully enforced licensing scheme to regulate the sector and rid our communities of the blight created by a handful of irresponsible private landlords, many of whom live in places far removed from our towns and villages and who couldn't care less about the disruption caused by some of their tenants and the poor condition of their properties. Unfortunately that won't happen until everyone starts pulling in the same direction. 

 

I’ve included full background details here in an article published earlier this week: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/06/ongoing-private-sector-housing-issues.html