Landlord accreditation scheme launches

A new accreditation scheme for landlords in Guildford has been launched following work by a Liberal Democrat councillor. Under the new voluntary scheme landlords and agents have to meet certain standards of property maintenance and tackling anti-social behaviour and in return institutions like the University of Surrey promote these landlords to people looking for accommodation.

The scheme came from a council group led by Lib Dem Councillor Caroline Reeves and aims to raise standards in private rented accommodation both for tenants and for neighbours. The scheme is funded by Guildford Borough Council and the University of Surrey in partnership.

The new scheme is especially good news for Onslow neighbourhoods like Ashended, Dennisville and Guildford Park where the number of houses of multiple occupancy have increased dramatically in recent years.

Talking about the scheme, Cllr Caroline Reeves said:

“I have lived in the same house for 27 years, very close to the town centre, and have seen the changes in the community now that so many homes are let to families or tenants sharing.

“Houses of Multiple Occupancy or ‘HMOs’ are the only way that many can live in the town, and increasingly it’s young professionals not students who have to share. As a ward councillor, I receive complaints from both tenants and the neighbours of rented properties, and it seemed to me that there must be a way of ensuring that as an authority we can help all concerned.

“We worked together with the University of Surrey and Surrey Students’ Union and obtained input from all our further education bodies plus a number of agents and landlords, to design a scheme which will provide improved quality assurance for all landlords, letting agents, tenants and their neighbours.”

Landlord accreditation for Guildford

There’s good news for local residents as a new accreditation scheme for rented properties comes a step closer.

As reported by the Guildford Dragon, an outline proposal for the scheme to raise housing standards and improve property management was agreed at Guildford Borough’s Council’s latest Executive meeting.

Actions to improve areas of concern will be taken in the meantime – covering waste recycling, maintenance of gardens and parking.

This is largely thanks to Cllr Caroline Reeves who’s the leader of the Lib Dem group on the council.  As Chair of the Task and Finish group, Caroline led the investigation that produced the proposal for the new scheme.

As I know full well, it’s impossible to speak to local residents without realising the on-going problems relating to houses of multiple occupancy in many parts of the town.

But an accreditation scheme will fix this problem in the long term by making landlords and letting agents take better care of their properties and take more responsibility for their tenants. At the same time it’s likely to improve community relations between tenants and neighbours by ending the kind of problems which cause conflicts.

Once the scheme is implemented then, the more landlords that sign up to it, the more tenants who will be living in better quality accommodation and the fewer neighbours who’ll have to deal with the impact of houses which aren’t properly maintained where rubbish is left on the streets or in gardens.

All in all it’s a great step forward and I’m proud of the part of Liberal Democrats in pressuring the council to make it happen.