Tens of thousands of homes unsafe, says Michael Gove | Housing

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  1. > “We need to tackle this problem nationwide,” he said. “My aim is to improve the conditions in which people live. I fear it’s the case that there are tens of thousands of properties that are not in the state that they should be,” he said. Asked if tens of thousands was correct, he said: “Yes, at least.

    > “We know there are a significant number of properties, some of which were built in the 60s and 70s and are in poor conditions, but some of which have been poorly maintained that simply need to be properly repaired and properly maintained.”

    > The levelling up secretary’s admission that at least tens of thousands of properties across the country were not safe comes after he decided to cut off £1m funding to the Rochdale housing association.

    > He also pledged to block new funding to other housing providers found to be failing tenants, and awarded an extra £14m to enforcement teams to inspect private landlords.

    I am quite honestly surprised anyone in the Conservative government admitted this at all, especially him. Who knows if anything he says will actually be followed up though. Small progress perhaps.

  2. Certain areas, including where I live, now require landlords to get licences for each of their properties, meaning certain standards must be maintained. This is a good thing obviously for safer housing, but another unexpected bonus was loads of houses went on sale for dirt cheap, as the landlords either needed to sell them before a certain date or be forced to pay for the necessary work or pay a big juicy fine. I bought my house for about half of what it should really have been worth.

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