Oh dear, Angela Rayner. What can landlords do to help you on LHA?

As Ronan Keating once said: “You say it best, when you say nothing at all”,  Angela’s appearance in front of a friendly Parliamentary committee was an education in how much the government’s housing experts really don’t know about the sector.

A year in the job, and at least two years of slagging off landlords, and she is still none the wiser.

Anyone would think that she really doesn’t want to learn how to deliver housing at scale for private tenants.

Which is good because she’s failing on every level – and Westminster whispers suggest she could become Prime Minister in the next year or so.

May the Lord help us because here’s someone who has clearly been over promoted and has no discernible talent for what she is paid to do.

Angela’s intellectual brilliance

I say this because Property118 reported Angela’s appearance and even included a video to show the world of her brilliance.

She rejected calls to unfreeze the Local Housing Allowance (LHA), arguing that increasing LHA rates would primarily benefit private landlords.

Say what, now?

Angela then had the temerity to accuse landlords of evicting tenants without a reason so they could be replaced with tenants paying more, exacerbating housing issues.

Fortunately, we had committee chair Florence Eshalomi to challenge Ange, noting that the LHA freeze is pushing families into poverty and questioning whether the government is reviewing the policy.

Crikey! So, there is a Labour MP who understands the issues.

Our Angela isn’t open to a debate and neatly sidestepped the question, emphasising the government’s £34 billion annual housing support, including £12 billion for the private rented sector.

She also stressed the need for a ‘social housing revolution’ through the Affordable Homes Programme – though she didn’t say that most of those homes will be for people who have just turned up in the country.

Mistake not to unfreeze LHA

Angela and her civil servants must see that refusing to unfreeze LHA rates is a policy blunder that punishes tenants and misunderstands landlords’ realities.

By dismissing calls to adjust LHA, Ange claims she’s preventing landlords from pocketing public funds – if only life was that simple!

We aren’t pocketing anything, we are offering a service and want to be paid, hopefully at a market rate, for it.

Labour’s stance ignores the housing crisis’s complexity and harms the very tenants she aims to protect.

The LHA, meant to cover the bottom 30th percentile of market rents, hasn’t kept pace with inflation OR rising rents.

The gap between LHA and actual market rates is now so wide that landlords can’t afford to rent at LHA levels without effectively subsidising their tenants.

Landlords want to rent LHA tenants

Many landlords don’t oppose renting to benefit-assisted tenants, especially since they tend to bring stability as long-term renters, but setting rents at LHA rates is unsustainable when costs like maintenance and mortgages soar.

Can we add in the cost of selective licensing since this nonsense also appears to be on the rise too?

Instead of vilifying landlords for evicting tenants under Section 8 for rent arrears, Angela should appreciate that the LHA shortfall forces tough decisions.

Unfreezing LHA would undoubtedly help reduce homelessness and save millions on temporary accommodation costs.

I’m sure there are lots of Labour councillors who can help explain the finer details on this issue – they are always moaning about running out of cash to house homeless families.

Or don’t Labour MPs listen to their frontline council colleagues?

Labour’s 1.5 million homes

It made me laugh during the election campaign that Angela said she could magically make a million homes for renting appear – not understanding it will take years for that to happen.

But she’s still at it with her ‘social housing revolution’ which still overlooks immediate needs.

Her ambitious and unachievable 1.5 million homes plan won’t come close to what we need if we keep accepting huge numbers of migrants.

I imagine the kicker for landlords working at this end of the market is news that the government has the cash to pay Serco inflated rents to house migrants who haven’t paid a penny into the country’s coffers.

But she is still happy, apparently, to neglect British people struggling with stagnant LHA rates.

This double standard will fuel frustration among landlords and tenants alike.

Ask landlords for help

Angela’s blinkered policy risks driving more tenants into poverty and homelessness, while her rhetoric alienates landlords who could be part of the solution.

Labour’s apparent disdain for the private rented sector blinds them to the harm inflicted on vulnerable renters.

Unfreezing LHA isn’t just sensible; it is becoming more urgent by the day.

Until the Labour government addresses this, tenants will bear the brunt of a broken system, and landlords will be scapegoated for navigating it.

But don’t worry, Angela has dreams of a social housing utopia, where lots of tenants will be left out in the cold.

We don’t have the money or people to build the planned houses but that doesn’t matter.

So long as caring landlords wanting to house poor families are punished financially then Labour’s work is done. Just like they will be at the next General Election.

Until next time,

The Landlord Crusader