ACORN Wales members have voted on a slate of 5 key demands that we ask candidates to commit to in the run up to the Senedd election. We call on you to fight for these changes if you are elected to the Senedd.
Please email wales@acorntheunion.org.uk (copying in anny.cullum@acorntheunion.org.uk) letting us know whether you support each of these demands – please also get in touch if you would like to discuss any details further, or if you have any questions.
- End the use of Bailiffs for council tax debt collection
- Introduce Rent Controls
- End the Temporary Accommodation & Homelessness Cycle
- Reform Private Renting so Welsh Renters have the same Rights as English Renters
- Nationalise Welsh Buses
End the use of Bailiffs for council tax debt collection
Our demand: End the use of Bailiffs for council tax debt collection.
What’s the problem? £263 million is owed in council tax debt in Wales, and that number is rising. People already squeezed by the cost of living crisis are being trapped in a debt spiral, unable to pay and with added costs being piled on for every missed bill. An overdue £100 can quickly snowball into a £hundreds more, pushing people further into debt, and can even make someone liable for the entire year’s bill overnight. At the same time, private bailiff companies are cashing in on the crisis and making massive profits while our communities suffer, adding stress, fear, and even more debt. Data collected by Citizens Advice shows that 1 in 3 people contacted by bailiffs report rule-breaking or intimidation, including seizing the wrong items and refusing to discuss affordable payment plans. Councils should be supporting struggling citizens, not making their lives worse by using bailiffs to collect debts – the use of bailiffs not only adds to debt, but research shows its not even more effective than more ethical collection practices.
What’s the solution? ACORN wants to see the following changes to council tax debt collection in Wales:
- An end to the use of bailiffs to collect council tax debt
- Liability order* fees capped at £10, or at a level which reflects the actual cost to councils for the administration and paperwork.
- A statutory pre-action protocol laying out steps all councils should take before seeking a liability order, ending the postcode lottery dictating how people in debt are treated when struggling to pay council tax.
- The government committed to exploring alternatives to council tax, such as a proportional property tax, as a fairer system of local government revenue creation.
- Residents given the maximum amount of time possible to address their arrears before a council can seek a liability order
Bring in Rent Controls
Our demand: Bring in rent controls to get a grip on spiralling prices, stop community fragmentation and allow renters a better quality of life.
What’s the problem? The rent is too high! Rent rises in private rented housing have been outstripping inflation for years now. Across Wales the average private renter spends around 27% of their income on rent compared with the average 19% spent by homeowners across Wales but in Cardiff this rises to 40% and certain areas are becoming rental price hotspots. Excessive rent rises are driven by profiteering by letting agents and landlords. The market isn’t ‘regulating itself’; it is the Government’s responsibility to make sure everyone can access an affordable home. High rents eat up earnings, leaving households with a lower quality of life, constrain their ability to save, and as a knock on effect reduce the amount of money they spend in the wider economy. Rising rents have forced displacement, with young people unable to find homes in the cities they grew up in, and communities uprooted by spiralling costs. High rents are driving down standards, the ever rising costs cause uncertainty and worry for renters, who find themselves scared to complain about poor conditions for fear of an unaffordable rent hike forcing them out of their homes.
What’s the solution?
- No one should have to spend more than 30% of their income on rent, we need rent controls that bring rents down and maintain them at this level.
- Local incomes should be factored in when these controls are set, and they should be accountable to renters.
- Investigate then implement systems of rent control and stabilisation, looking at the pros and cons of devolving this to local government
- In times of national crisis or emergency, such as spiralling inflation on day to day necessities or a national pandemic etc. impose a national freeze on rents to support tenants through difficult periods.
End the Homelessness Cycle
Our demand: Reform temporary accommodation guidance and policies to break the homelessness cycle.
What’s the problem? Everyone wants and deserves a safe, secure, affordable long term place to live – but some homes may not be suitable for every tenant for a variety of reasons. Local councils have an obligation to house homeless people and an obligation to offer homeless people somewhere to live long term. In the short term, most homeless people are offered temporary accommodation while waiting for the offer of a more permanent place to live. If someone living in temporary accommodation is unable to accept the home offered to them then they can be evicted and made homeless for failing to engage with the process – and the legal requirement for the council to find them somewhere temporary to live starts again. Tenants have been caught in a cycle of homelessness because policies and practices don’t properly take into account the many reasons or challenges people might have in accepting a long term home. For example, an ACORN member and her child were offered a long term home that was near to an abusive ex-partner where they did not feel safe living – another family didn’t understand the offer letter from the Council as it hadn’t been translated properly, and therefore missed the deadline for accepting an offer, they were consequently threatened with eviction from their Temporary Accommodation and were only able to stay due to an eviction resistance by ACORN.
What’s the solution: Where tenants have a good reason for not moving into a place that has been offered to them, they should not be evicted from their Temporary Accommodation. This would prevent distress for the tenant and save money and resources for local authorities.
- The policy on acceptable reasons for tenants turning down the offer of a home should be revised to allow consideration for:
- the home’s suitability for the tenant’s needs related to disability, family size etc;
- the home’s proximity to an abuser of the tenant;
- the impact the move could have on children’s education or any medical treatment
- the impact the move could have on the tenant’s mental health if they will be isolated from their support networks
- The government should review if any other factors should be considered in addition to those listed above.
- Letters should be translated into the tenants language to ensure that they are able to properly engage with the process
- Councils should meet with tenants in-person as standard to discuss the details and consequences of offers before initiating eviction proceedings
Reform Private Renting
Our demand: Reform private renting so that Welsh tenants have the same rights as English tenants.
What’s the problem? After a long fought campaign, from the 1st May English tenants will have significantly better rights, and Welsh tenants deserve the same!
What’s the solution? The government should reform renting laws to ensure Welsh tenants aren’t living in worse conditions and with less rights than those in England.
- End no-fault, no reason evictions (Wales in now the only nation in the United Kingdom where a tenant can be evicted for no reason)
- Outlaw rental bidding wars
- Cap the amount of rent landlords can ask a tenant to pay in advance to one month, to stop large amounts being used as a means to discriminate against tenants on benefits and low incomes
- Increase the amount of rent arrears that can trigger an eviction up from 2 months to 3 months
- Create a legal avenue to challenge rent increases
- Introduce laws designed to improve conditions and living standards for Welsh tenants, in line with Awaab’s law and the Decent Homes Standard in England
ACORN believes much more can be done to improve rights for Welsh renters, but as a bare minimum they must be on a level playing field with renters in England.
Nationalise The Buses
Our demand: Nationalise the buses across Wales so that services are run solely for the benefit of communities, not the profit of the companies.
What’s the problem? Since the deregulation of Buses in 1980 bus journeys have fallen by 56%. Companies have been able to cut routes that aren’t profitable, removing a lifeline for people who live along those routes to be able to travel.
What’s the solution? Transport for Wales should support local authorities who wish to establish municipal bus operators, and prioritise them when creating Bus Network Action Plans, on the basis of the ability of municipal operators to prioritise social objectives as well as financial ones, and keep any profits within the public purse.
If you want to express you support ACORN’s demands or want to discuss any aspects further please email wales@acorntheunion.org.uk copying in anny.cullum@acorntheunion.org.uk