Landlords to receive hate crime and anti-racism training

Landlords to receive hate crime and anti-racism training

10:58 AM, 16th March 2023, About A year ago 14

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Private landlords and agents are being offered hate crime and anti-racism training so they can offer ‘appropriate support’ to their tenants, the BBC reports.

The training is being offered by the Welsh government as part of the continuous professional development of landlords they need to be a licensed landlord. The training will begin later this month.

However, the Welsh Conservatives claim that the Labour-run government should be focused on building new homes to rent and buy, rather than ‘virtue signalling’.

Non-mandatory training will be free of charge

The non-mandatory training will be free of charge to agents and landlords and a Welsh government spokesperson said: “We are providing Rent Smart Wales with £25,000 to deliver anti-racism training to landlords so they are able to respond quickly and offer appropriate support where tenants have experienced racism and/or hate crime.”

Janet Finch-Saunders, the housing spokeswoman for the Welsh Conservatives, said: “We know that Labour are letting down the people of Wales by only building half of the homes we need.

“With 90,000 households on social housing waiting lists, this policy represents another distraction.

“Yet again, the Labour government are focusing on costly virtue signalling vanity projects as opposed to delivering the housing Wales desperately needs.”

‘Turn to them if they are experiencing any form of racism or hate crime’

The Welsh government spokesperson explained that landlords and agents “will be able to show prospective and existing tenants that they have completed this training to provide assurance to their tenants that they can turn to them if they are experiencing any form of racism or hate crime.”

The spokesperson added: “An added benefit of this training would be that landlords and agents who are the victims of racism or hate crime themselves would know where to seek help and support.”

The annual population survey in June 2021 found that Wales has a Black, Asian and minority ethnic population that makes up 4.9% of people living there.

The biggest ethnic minority communities are found in Swansea, Cardiff and Newport.

And national hate crime statistics, which is data published by the Home Office, shows that in Wales hate crimes rose by 15.7% between 2019 and 2020.

Over that period, hate crimes with race as a motivating factor grew by 15.9% 3,052 cases.

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) say they encourage and support landlords who want to broaden their professional skills and knowledge with accredited training.

The organisation told the BBC that having more aware, better-trained landlords can help ‘deliver quality private rented accommodation that Wales desperately needs’.


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Comments

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

11:23 AM, 16th March 2023, About A year ago

Will the Welsh Government be helping landlords who are the victims of hate crimes themselves?

For example, landlords are often referred to as "rogue", "parasitic" and other offensive words in media and especially in the comments sections of National Media articles. Publishers are not compelled to do anything about this hatred that targets our minority sector.

NewYorkie

11:51 AM, 16th March 2023, About A year ago

Just what does the Welsh Government expect landlords to do if a tenant tells them they've experienced racism?

I would suggest a tenant will be more concerned about securing a decent rental, at a reasonable rent, rather than knowing the landlord has done a racism and hate crime test!

TheMaluka

11:56 AM, 16th March 2023, About A year ago

I remember landlords being called snivelling parasites by Cllr Chris Devine. Few, other than landlords, considered this was a hate statement.
https://www.property118.com/councillor-chris-devine-conservative-wiltshire/

Beaver

12:50 PM, 16th March 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by TheMaluka at 16/03/2023 - 11:56
My best-ever tenant was black and from Africa. She kept the house immaculate, paid the rent on time and in full and got on with the neighbours. When she left it was the neighbours that told me that the immigration people were after her. And I then found that she'd been claiming benefits and that somebody at the property had probably been falsely obtaining credit. But she was my best ever tenant, very nice and as far as I was able to tell, a good mother.

What I need as a landlord from any government, local or regional, is for them to provide me with information that confirms:

(a) that the tenant is entitled to rent in the UK
(b) (if they want me to take tenants on benefits) that the tenant is eligible for benefits.

I don't need training on hate crimes or racism. We already have laws to prevent that. And I don't care what the tenants' 'race' is, not that I'm convinced I'd always be able to tell even with a DNA test. I want the tenants to pay the rent on time and in full, look after the property and get on with the neighbours. If they don't do any of these things I need to be able to get rid of them without somebody waving the 'racism' card.

Mick Roberts

15:33 PM, 16th March 2023, About A year ago

So when a Landlord gets to age 75 & he's just about had enough, yet he's still keeping the house for the tenants as it's their home, does Welsh Govt think this is going to help the tenants, or will it be just one thing too many to push the Landlord over the edge.

I think we apart from being Psychiatrists, Social workers, Counsellors, Debt advisers, Police man, Breathing Space specialists, Agony Aunts, we can now add Immigration confidante to our resume now.

Dylan Morris

9:20 AM, 17th March 2023, About A year ago

What really surprises me is that they haven’t made this training mandatory.

Deb

9:47 AM, 17th March 2023, About A year ago

Whilst I have every sympathy with anyone facing problems due to racism or hate crimes, I don't see what it has to do with their landlord. If I have such problems, who can I run to about it? I don't have a landlord. It's about time the authorities realised that landlords rent out property to adults and they don't adopt the tenants, providing a parenting/carers service.

NewYorkie

10:17 AM, 17th March 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Dylan Morris at 17/03/2023 - 09:20
... and in Welsh!

Mick Roberts

10:23 AM, 17th March 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by Deb at 17/03/2023 - 09:47
Exactly, who can we go to. We human like them.

With UC, the Govt & Council authorities say they are responsible adults and they will be paid the Housing Element rent direct. They can look after theirselves and they WILL give u the rent.
Yet the same Govt & Council authorities say No, they aren't responsible enough to check the smoke alarms, if they have a fire, it's landlords fault for not checking every 4 months. We can't rely or trust on the tenant to do that, but we can trust em with £2000 to pay u.

That tenant is also not responsible enough to go online and get his own EPC, u the Landlord must go online and print him a hard copy and give it him personally or u can never evict this person with a Section 21 if he's a naughty boy.

TheMaluka

10:24 AM, 17th March 2023, About A year ago

Reply to the comment left by NewYorkie at 17/03/2023 - 10:17
Surely you mean
.. ac yn Gymraeg!

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