Acorn welcome Sheffield Council’s commitment to tackling rogue landlords

A community union has welcomed a “huge step forward” in their campaign to crackdown on rogue landlords.
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Acorn, which supports people with issues including renting, praised plans from Sheffield Council to do more to prevent harm from bad landlords.

Chris Townsend, private renter and Acorn member, said: “This is a huge step forward for the countless people across Sheffield who have gone through hell because of the profiteering abuses of so many landlords across the city.

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“But none of these changes would have been possible if we hadn’t clubbed together and raised a demand. It shows just how much ordinary people can achieve when we join a union and fight together rather than on our own. We’ve got a long way still to go, but we’ve proved Acorn gets results.”

Campaigners at a recent protest.Campaigners at a recent protest.
Campaigners at a recent protest.

Horror stories of renting in Sheffield included landlords refusing to fix severe damp, mould, structurally unsound homes, leaks, rat infestations and lifts.

People also experienced racism from landlords, sexually inappropriate comments and turning up without warning, which is illegal.

Some of these were written onto cardboard bricks and stacked to create a house outside of the Town Hall on Saturday, February 20.

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At the last full council meeting, Catriona Murray, on behalf of Acorn, asked the council if it would commit to citywide landlord licensing.

Campaigners.Campaigners.
Campaigners.

Councillor Paul Wood, cabinet member for neighbourhoods and community safety, said they were looking at what it could do to extend selective licensing.

He said: “I have committed to exploring the possibility of other areas having selective licensing and committed to do the ground work to look at the feasibility of including some areas where needed in the city.”

Coun Wood added that the council was also doubling its frontline private rented sector enforcement team.

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He said: “The council takes the private rented sector landlords and the quality of the housing very seriously.

Boxes containing residents' stories.Boxes containing residents' stories.
Boxes containing residents' stories.

“Be assured that within the powers and resources we have at the moment we are increasing the monitoring of the private rented sector and we will continue to do that and work towards getting what you are looking for.”

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