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“Watered down” Tenants’ Charter is good news for just 180 tenants
02/02/2023
The Councillor who proposed the idea says it shows the Conservatives can’t be trusted to take poor standards in rental accommodation seriously
A new Tenants’ Charter in the Cherwell District is being drawn up to document the standard those renting their homes should expect from their landlord. Its good news for the 180 households in the district who rent directly from Cherwell District Council. They are now being offered the opportunity to shape the document.
But the remainder of the 8,850 social housing tenants in the district who rent from a housing association, or those in private rental properties, can only hope that the Council will manage to persuade their landlords to sign-up to a similar pledge.
The idea for a Tenants Charter was proposed in December by the leader of the Labour Group at the District Council, Councillor Sean Woodcock. He says he no longer recognises the project as anything like what he intended it to be.
Councillor Woodcock’s suggestion was a charter which set out minimum standards “that the council and that all tenants expect”. However Conservative Councillor Nick Mawer, who’s the Portfolio Holder for Housing, proposed an amendment which limited the Charter to just Council tenants and proposed that “officers .. engage with registered social landlords and private landlords to seek improvements in standards, in line with those this Council will adopt”.
A decision to move ahead with the charter in its amended form is set to be taken at a meeting of the Council’s Executive on February 6. The Council says one of the charter’s key goals will be to strengthen the relationship between them as landlord and the tenants. The exercise to understand any concerns tenants may have will help them improve the service offered.
Councillor Mawer said: “Everyone deserves to feel safe and comfortable in their own home and, if they rent, to be able to clearly understand how well their landlord is performing.
“A charter will allow us to provide our own tenants that confidence, as well as empowering them by encouraging them to take part in the process of drafting it.”
At the same time as Cherwell begins work on the charter, officers will be engaging with other social housing and private landlords in the district to encourage them to make similar improvements to their own standards.
Councillor Mawer added: “The idea behind this charter is that not only are we clearly laying out our own promise to our tenants, we are also establishing an important reference point. Our expectation will be that other landlords take note and, with our support, match our commitments.”
The man behind the original idea hasn’t given up on a Tenants’ Charter covering all tenants. Councillor Woodcock said: “We don’t recognise this Tenants’ Charter as anything like what it was intended to be. This watered down version is nothing more than asking officers to do what they should already be doing.
“The Conservatives have shown that they can’t be trusted to take the issue of poor standards in rental accommodation seriously, or of giving residents more information or a larger voice.
“Cherwell Labour are committed to introducing a proper Tenants’ Charter if we are in control after May’s District Council elections.”
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam