08:35 Wednesday 1st August 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
PAUL STAINTON: We’ve been looking at homeless people in the city this morning, and the state and squalor that some people are having to live in. A lack of affordable housing is to blame, and a lot of people are calling on the Council to offer more help to find a home. And the recent reduction in Government housing benefit hasn’t helped either. It’s seen a number of people, a growing number of people, struggle to find accommodation. It comes after yesterday’s announcement by SSentif that the number of households declared in need of emergency accommodation in England has risen by about 25% over just the past three years. And the East of England has seen the biggest rise as well. Earlier we heard from Darren Frith. (TAPE)
DARREN FRITH: I basically say to them, go round the properties that you’ve accredited, to all the landlords you’ve accredited, and look at their properties before you make people live in there really. It needs to start being regulated a lot tighter, because there’s a lot of rogue landlords in Peterborough, and all they want is the money, because they know the people are here and they want to live in the houses, and they’ve got no choices. (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well earlier we heard from Sean Evans, the Housing Needs Manager at Peterborough City Council, who said they were looking at reintroducing the Accredited Landlord Scheme that they got rid of four years ago. And basically, now, they get a list of landlords from rightmove.co.uk, and just copy and paste them, and give them to people looking for housing. Well Rachael Orr is Campaigns Manager for Shelter. Continue reading “Rogue Landlords Out of Control in Peterborough”
