Better renting campaign
Our better renting campaign will ensure that all private tenants within Cheshire West have access to a safe, secure and good quality home.
Our campaign will
Address poor housing conditions and housing management standards;
Recognise and support professional landlords and letting agents;
Support tenants and prospective tenants by providing them with the information they need.
What we will do
We will address poor housing conditions and housing management standards by
- Targeting landlords and letting agents who house tenants in poor housing and who deliver poor housing management services;
- Making it easy for tenants to report any disrepair or poor housing conditions to us.
- Taking enforcement action against landlords and letting agents who refuse to carry out any necessary improvement works;
- Work with landlords and letting agents and encourage them to become accredited with the Cheshire Landlord Accreditation Scheme.
- Support national Government in their plans to: introduce the banning of letting agency fees, introduce longer term tenancies and deliver a national rogue landlord database.
We will recognise and support professional landlords and letting agents by
- Providing free advice and support to landlords via our Private Landlord Service for example: free tenant finding service, tenancy sign up/support services, Universal Credit advice;
- Delivering a biannual landlord forum in conjunction with the National Residential Landlords Association;
- Delivering an annual landlord training programme;
- Producing regular landlord newsletters that keeps landlords informed about the latest news affecting the sector.
We will support tenants and prospective tenants and provide them with the information they need by
- Making sure that landlords fulfil their legal requirements for example, providing a gas safety certificate, energy performance certificate;
- Responding to complaints and incidents of poor housing conditions;
- Encouraging tenants to look for landlords and letting agents that are accredited with the Cheshire Landlord Accreditation Scheme
- Providing advice and support via ForFutures.
- Preventing homelessness via West Cheshire Homes