Labour election win gives landlords ‘new voice’ in Parliament
Labour now has three of the top five largest-portfiolio landlords in the House of Commons, the FT has reported.
Despite fears of an anti-landlord agenda the Register of Interests has revealed three of the top five ‘portfolio’ landlords in parliament are Labour MPs.
And the biggest landlord of all is new Labour MP Jas Athwal who owns 18 rental properties in conjunction with several other family members.
According to research undertaken by the Financial Times there are 85 MPs who are landlords, which is around 13% of the total.
11% of Labour’s MPs are landlords, as well as 25% of Conservative MPs and 11% of Lib Dems.
That is only a minor change from the previous parliament when the Conservatives and Labour had a total of 101 landlord MPs.
There are also another 158 MPs who have declared they have second homes or land which doesn’t produce a significant income.
MPs have an extra duty — to their tenants as well as their constituents — to support and bring forward long overdue renting reforms without delay.”
The large number of landlords and second-home owners have raised concerns from charities and pressure groups that they could hinder the progress of the Renter’s Rights Bill.
Tom Darling, director of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, told the Financial Times: “We must not have a repeat of the situation that occurred with previous rental reform efforts, where there was a suggestion that parliamentarians’ private interests were contributing to slow-walking and watering down vital renting legislation.
“Whilst we clearly don’t believe being a landlord should preclude you from being an MP, we do think these MPs have an extra duty — to their tenants as well as their constituents — to support and bring forward long overdue renting reforms without delay.”