Andy Burnham claims the Good Landlord Charter will raise standards without driving landlords out
1 year ago | 16 comments
Andy Burnham proposes compulsory purchase orders for PRS homes
9:40 AM, 12th February 2026, 2 months ago
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The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has called for compulsory purchase orders for private rented sector (PRS) homes that are non-decent.
Speaking at the Resolution Foundation’s Unsung Britain conference in London, Mr Burnham set out his three points to fix the housing crisis.
As Mayor, Mr Burnham launched the Good Landlord Charter, which covers 50% of rented homes in Manchester.
Councils to purchase homes in PRS
Setting out his ideas, Mr Burnham claimed that with the right action, Britain could free itself from the housing crisis.
His first point included a new target of building half a million council and social homes by the end of the decade.
Mr Burnham then argued that councils should be given greater powers to tackle poor housing conditions in the PRS.
He told the conference: “We should give powers and funding to councils to compulsorily purchase homes in the private rented sector that are non-decent.
“You should no longer be allowed to rent out a home with the help of the benefits system when its condition harms the health of residents and drags down the surrounding community.”
He admitted it was a radical idea but insisted it was necessary to tackle the housing crisis.
He said: “Homes that were taken out of public ownership have been left in disrepair and exist to make money for absent landlords, while everyone else pays the consequences.”
His third point focused on accelerating a nationwide retrofit programme.
He claimed: “This will give millions of people better-quality homes with permanently lower energy bills, even possibly freeing them entirely from the worry of energy costs.”
PRS homes must meet DHS
Mr Burnham’s comments come as the government announced all PRS and social homes will need to meet the Decent Homes Standard by 2035.
Under the new standard, landlords will need to meet certain criteria, including that homes must be in a reasonable state of repair and provide core facilities and services, including a kitchen with adequate space and layout, an appropriately located bathroom and WC, and adequate protection from external noise.
However, according to government data, landlords will need to fork out £26.5 billion to meet the new standard.
Mr Burnham’s comments on fixing the housing crisis can be seen below from 15:00 onwards.
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Member Since January 2016 - Comments: 3
12:49 PM, 12th February 2026, About 2 months ago
Burnhams opening shot to be PM!
Member Since October 2023 - Comments: 205
1:01 PM, 12th February 2026, About 2 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Bill O’Dell at 12/02/2026 – 10:03
Here’s the problem, Bill………I have a house, that I have rented to 8 sets of tenants over the years.
7 of them, no problems ever with mould.
1 of them, constantly complaining of mould.
He had the heating up high, damp clothes over every radiator, and no windows open.
I bought him a tumble dryer to sort out the problem.
But still the mould persisted. At a visit to check it out, I saw wet clothes over every radiator. When I asked him why he was not using the dryer, he said “too expensive to run”
So sometimes its the tenants fault, and NOBODY is addressing that.
Member Since October 2023 - Comments: 205
1:11 PM, 12th February 2026, About 2 months ago
As a wild left socialist, I’m surprised he did not quote Pierre-Joseph Proudhon directly “All property is theft”
So the council gets to decide which property doesn’t meet the standard, AND the council gets to determine the “market value” that they will pay for it, AND a lot of councils are bankrupt.
What could possibly go wrong?
Member Since April 2018 - Comments: 374
2:38 PM, 12th February 2026, About 2 months ago
Reply to the comment left by David100 at 12/02/2026 – 13:11
It’s how these people attempt to sort their failures using others money.
I would retort “all tax is theft”, Murray N.Rothbard.
Member Since May 2014 - Comments: 620
3:58 PM, 12th February 2026, About 2 months ago
Reply to the comment left by David100 at 12/02/2026 – 13:01
This is the experience a lot of us have with irresponsible tenants and their mould.
Andy Burnham has got his sights set on a bigger prize and he percives landlord bashing as a good way of achieving it.
Sadiq Khan will probably be also singing from the same hymn sheet shortly.
Member Since July 2016 - Comments: 7
5:30 PM, 12th February 2026, About 2 months ago
I think Andy Burnham is correct that a more collaborative approach to politics in Westminster has to be the way forward. As regards all homes meeting the Decent Homes Standard’ by 2035, the devil is in the details. When he published his own charter on this and asked landlords to voluntarily sign up (as around 50% have) I checked what was required to meet the standard. Despite being a responsible landlord of 15 years with 6 properties being managed I wasn’t confident I could commit to meeting the requirements without significant extra costs. Collaborating on setting the standards required would be a good start.
Member Since July 2015 - Comments: 66
5:39 PM, 12th February 2026, About 2 months ago
Reply to the comment left by David100 at 12/02/2026 – 13:01
Sure David there are going to be problems sorting Standards, Compliance, Arbitration etc but it was at the conceptual level I was talking. And it would have to include ALL Housing Associations and Local Authorities and Tenant organisations (Yep even Shelter) and yes it would be a buggers muddle for a long time until it is sorted, but standards would inevitably rise and it might even be a well orchestrated exit for the many landlords who cant or wont raise standards. And if there was cross bench support then we are getting close to responsible government – wouldn’t that be a great of fresh air!
Member Since April 2024 - Comments: 4
6:48 PM, 12th February 2026, About 2 months ago
Wouldn’t it be better for burham to buy a few dwellings in his own name then give them to the council.
That’s if he’s got the intelligence and nerve to go ahead with it .and borrow lots of money after he’s saved up the deposit
But I somehow don’t think he’s bright enough
Member Since March 2015 - Comments: 1969 - Articles: 1
9:04 PM, 12th February 2026, About 2 months ago
We just had an article (here on P118) that 430,000 SOCIAL homes don’t meet the standard. If they can’t sort them out, how do they expect taking on more by effective stealing them from the PRS will help…or will they exempt themselves? Can WE compulsory purchase theirs when they don’t meet the standard??
Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 583
8:15 AM, 13th February 2026, About 2 months ago
Councils / Gov are inhumane
1. They were going to CP 3 of mine in 2019 due to a regeneration scheme. For 3 yrs the process went on . I prepared my life as did my tenants . Then they suddenly one day pulled the plug and gave up on the project creating massive trauma for the tenants and about another 1000 or so people
2. I then let one of those properties to them for one of their emergency housing tenants on a 1 yr licence Renewed each year . The deal was if I gave notice at the end of each year it would be two weeks and they would move them elsewhere so i could sell with vacant possession. In March 2025 I gave notice as i wanted to sell. They reneged on our licence and they went to court to remove their own tenant . Feb 2025 they still haven’t removed them. Their incompetence and the court systems knows no bounds
3. I`ve sold maybe 10 of mine to the councils over the years . They pay market price. But they wont sell them with my UC tenants in . They say evict them first make them homeless and we will put your tenant family with 2 young kids in a B&B 10 miles out of town completely disrupting their whole life . They dont care . And then we will complete the sale and replace them with another tenant we have in B&B. Why not just take them with my tenants in situ so they are not homeless . They point blank refused to do that . So they create a merry go round of hell for the homeless and callously treat them like cannon fodder just to tick a box to pretend they are doing something positive in housing the homeless .