About 25 people made their voices heard in Plymouth at the sleepout protest. Activists camped outside the Civic Centre on Saturday night to spread their message.
"Over 700 residents of Plymouth have already applied to downsize their home, as a means to escape the bedroom tax that they cannot afford.
Over half (51%) of renters in the private sector have had bad experiences of letting agents and landlords, a new survey has revealed.
According to The Tenants' Voice, an online resource for people in rented accommodation, 37% of renters wouldn't rent another property from their current landlord or agent.
Social landlords are raising their rents for benefit tenants above those charged by private landlords. The difference is a gap of 14%, says new data.
Produced by the organisers of the annual Resi conference, they say it has been extrapolated from the Government’s own figures and shows that contrary to widespread condemnation, private landlords who take tenants on Local Housing Allowance are not the ones pushing up the housing benefits bill.
A landlord who pleaded guilty to a total of 75 Housing Act offences has been ordered to pay nearly £40,000.
In terms of numbers of offences, it was the largest prosecution in the history of the local authority concerned, Redbridge Council in Greater London.
Buy-to-let landlords are handing over more money to the taxman.
HMRC’s take from landlords in income tax on their rental income in 2010/11 was up 13% on the previous tax year.
Housing groups and charities have been left ‘deeply disappointed’ after the High Court dismissed a legal challenge to the government’s bedroom tax.
David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said the policy is unworkable, while Campbell Robb, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said the ruling was ‘devastating news’.
There are the first signs of a possible tipping point in the rental market, with LSL today reporting that the number of tenants is dropping as first-time buyer numbers rise.
Greater powers for local councils to crack down on bad landlords, a legal requirement to include landlords’ contact details in all tenancy agreements, faster evictions, and a cultural shift towards longer tenancies have been recommended in this morning’s major report into the private rented sector.
The Communities and Local Government select committee makes no fewer than 47 recommendations covering a wide range of issues from Houses in Multiple Occupation to selective licensing schemes.
A Communities and Local Government select committee report out today on the private rented sector said moving people out of London was the only way councils could mitigate the impact of benefit caps.
Cuts to benefits had left local authorities with too few properties in their boroughs where they could afford to house claimants, the MPs found.
Hounslow Council has launched a new incentive for landlords to help local families at risk of becoming homeless.
The scheme includes offering up to £1,000 for landlords to house tenants needing a home, and grants of up to £15,000 for improvement works.