Members urged to join UNISON in responding to government consultation on proposals for longer private rent tenancies in England, by 26 August
Do you have any views on how to make longer tenancies easier in England’s privately rented housing sector? Well UNISON is asking you to share them with the government.
Westminster’s department of housing, communities and local government is in the middle of a consultation over proposals on “overcoming the barriers to longer tenancies in the private rented sector”. As housing is a devolved matter in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the proposals and consultation only cover England.
UNISON has produced a briefing on the consultation – which ends on 26 August – and the issues, which union activists or anyone else responding to the proposals should find useful.
The union will also be submitting a full national response to the proposals. These cover making tenancies longer, for a minimum of three years, and whether to implement a new tenancy framework by legislation, by introducing financial incentives to encourage landlords or by using education to raise awareness and bring about behavioural change.
We are also encouraging members, especially those who are private tenants, to respond to the consultation and make their voices heard in the debate on housing policy
UNISON welcomes the proposals, while arguing that they deed to go further in providing private tenants with greater security and stability. The union’s full response to the consultation will can for a new tenancy framework based on the Scottish “private residential tenancy”, introduced by the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act which came into force last year.
This is open-ended and provides tenants with greater security, stability and more predictability in their rent increases.
Click here to find out more and download the consultation paper 
