Public Funds And Rent Allowances

EDM number 440 in 1993-94, proposed by Ann Coffey on 25/01/1994.
Categorised under the topic of Private rented housing.

That this House is deeply concerned at the abuse of rent allowances by private landlords since the Government deregulated rents in 1989; notes that the amount of subsidy paid for rent, over and above the determination of a reasonable market rent by the Rent Officer, paid on behalf of the elderly, sick, disabled and families with dependent children to private landlords rose by an alarming 400 per cent. from ú5,339,306 in 1989-90 to ú21,030,787 in 1990-91 and continued increasing to ú26,971,288 in 1992-93 and that the total amount paid out between 1989 and 1993 is a massive ú79,461,294, towards which the local authorities' contribution totalled ú39,730,473; further notes that over this same period local authorities have had their spending budgets capped, and that because they have to pay this exorbitant amount of money from public funds to the private sector in profit for landlords it has meant that their ability to provide direct services such as home helps and day centres to vulnerable people in the community has been further curtailed; and calls on the Government to review the workings of the Rent Act as a matter of urgency, and stop this unacceptable abuse of public sector money contributed by tax payers to provide services for the vulnerable and not intended to provide excess profit for private individuals.

This motion has been signed by a total of 105 MPs, 1 of these signatures have been withdrawn.