Seagull Weekly Briefing 19/07

Good morning, and welcome to the Brighton Seagull's Weekly Briefing. Looks like it's going to be a really sunny day today, so remember to put on that suncream! After that we're back to our regularly scheduled clouds and rain for the weekend. News time!

Council petitioned to improve conditions for renters in the city

A petition by the Living Rent Campaign calling on the council to support private rent controls and more social housing at living rents, which gained more than 1,800 signatures, was debated at a council meeting on Thursday 11th July.

According to the group, average rents for a three-bedroom flat in the city are £1,700, compared to a median take home pay of £2,250.

They're calling on the council to write to government ministers demanding council power to cap and reduce rents, provide grants to councils to expand homes at living rents, and to end Right to Buy.

During the meeting, a spokesperson from the Living Rent Campaign said:

There's a chronic shortage of social housing in Brighton and Hove: 1,724 households are currently in temporary or emergency accommodation. The number is rising, the number of rough sleepers in our streets is increasing, and many people born in the city can no longer afford to live here… The greatest cause of homelessness is the loss of a private rented home.

The campaign went on to say there are measures that can be taken locally, including:

• Going ahead with the Moulsecoomb Hub project, which will deliver more than 200 council homes
• Review rent policy to make new and additional council homes more affordable
• Abandon the policy of forcing homeless people into private rented accommodation

Councillor Gill Williams, Cabinet Member for housing and new homes, responded in the meeting, talking about the introduction of landlord licensing, buying back homes at the rate of one per week, work to introduce a zero tolerance approach to rogue landlords, and how the council has led on a successful prosecution of a rogue landlord, which she believes is the first done by the council.

She also welcomed the Labour government's commitment to end section 21 evictions, to end bidding wars, and to cap the amount of rent requested upfront at the start of a tenancy.

Councillor Anne Meadows spoke to oppose some measures called for in the petition, saying that rent controls in Glasgow led to a shortage of properties to rent, that 'the majority of landlords are those who are deemed accidental landlords', and that while she supports the end of Right to Buy, deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner bought her council house through the scheme.

Meanwhile, councillor Carol Theobald said that writing to ministers to implement rent controls 'does not work and will make the situation much worse', and that it will reduce the number of rental properties.

An amendment put forward by councillor Ellen McLeay to refer the petition to the Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee was rejected by Labour, independent councillors and the Conservatives, with councillor Williams saying that the petition has already been acted on.

She said she's written to the new Secretary of State for housing 'requesting urgent action to improve the rights of private renters, to review the right to buy, to give us more money, for social housing… we did that on day one'.

🖋 News in Brief 🖋

• Cat Fletcher, who runs The Free Shop in the Open Market, has shared a fundraiser to help rebuild her home after an accidental house fire back in May.
• Trans Pride is this weekend! Find out Seagull's picks here, and if you're able to help with BSL, let them know.
• Mary Mears, former council leader, has died at 77.
• Despite Lloyd Russell-Moyle's controversial ouster as Labour candidate for Kemptown and Peacehaven, his legislative legacy lives on, as the new government included a bill to ban conversion practices (something Russell-Moyle had made a priority and brought a Private Member's Bill on) in this week's King's Speech setting out their agenda for the parliamentary session.

What's happening? The Pipeline, a pub and grassroots music venue in Little East Street, has been allowed to keep operating as a live music venue after doing so without complaint (and without the required license) for the last seven years.

How were they found out? Following a licensing inspection in February, the council found that the venue was in breach of several of its requirements of license, including no table service for food, selling alcohol later than its license allowed, and performing live music.

Why are they allowed to keep operating as a music venue? The owner, Thomas Evrenos, told the council that the venue 'does not attract any complaints nor cause any issues or disturbances', and that the venue is a 'very good and inclusive DIY live music venue with gigs on a very regular basis'—approximately 200 a year.

That's a lot of gigs! It is! According to Evrenos, his business' survival 'depends on being able to have live music upstairs more than 24 times a year'—what the old license permitted. He says by having had live music more often, he's proven that the venue can successfully operate as a grassroots music venue without complaint.

Who else supported the venue? The venue had backing from Music Venues Alliance Brighton, who wrote to the council in support of its work. As well as this, more than 3,000 people signed a petition to save the 'extremely well run' venue.

What about crime rates? Mark Stack, creator of the petition, said that there has been no police action or noise complaints in the last seven years, and despite an increasing number of incidents in the area, none have been linked to the venue.