New Tory Housing Minister Voted Against Rented Homes ‘Fit for Human Habitation’

Britain’s Conservativity Party new housing minister has previously voted AGAINST making all rented homes “fit for human habitation”, it has emerged.

Summary of article from The London Economic

It has emerged that Stuart Andrew previously voted against a 2016 amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill, which would have obliged landlords to provide appropriate living conditions to their tenants.

Andrew was one of 72 Tory MPs who voted down the amendment and were also landlords, as he has a house in the Leeds area which reportedly provides him with over £10,000 of annual rental income.

Tory ministers said at the time of the vote that the change would have triggered “unnecessary regulation and cost to landlords”, and argued local authorities “already have strong and effective powers” to police poor-quality homes.

But Labour’s Teresa Pearce said at the time that it was not acceptable to have people up and down the UK living in housing “unfit for human habitation” in 2016.

“This clause would change the lives of many tenants and provide a more robust, secure and safe private rented sector, which surely we all desire,” Pearce argued.

Full article at The London Economic