‘Plans will crack down on absentee landlords’
AT Prime Minister’s Questions last week, I was delighted that the Prime Minister backed my Bill to increase fines on rogue and absent landlords who plague our high streets and ruin buildings of our city’s history.
The Planning (Proper Maintenance of Land) Bill was created with the help of Councillor Daniel Jellyman of Stoke-on-trent City Council, backed by Historic England and you, the people of Stoke-on-trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke.
This Bill will prevent absentee landlords from abandoning their properties and dragging down the surrounding high street.
Currently, local authorities and judges are severely limited in the fines that they can slap on these dodgy landlords.
As it stands the maximum fine a landlord can face for neglecting their property is a mere £1,000, and a daily fine of up to £100 if they fail to take action subsequently.
My Bill will allow for an unlimited initial fine, replacing our current weak and wet laws and ensuring that these landlords are kicked back into action.
Harsher fines and tougher local action will stamp out these immoral assaults on the places we are proud to call home.
I was inspired by hearing from residents who were sick and tired of landlords letting shops become dirty and grubby, running down the look and feel of our town, and the tragic case of Price & Kensington Teapot Works in Longport, being left to ruin by its owner.
This will form part of the Government’s plans to level up and regenerate our high streets and history, breathing life back into areas that have been truly left behind.
This Government’s Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill has already laid the foundations for ensuring all parts of the country share equally in our nation’s success. Levelling Up will boost productivity, pay, jobs and living standards by growing the private sector, restore a sense of community, local pride and belonging, spread opportunities and improve public services, and will empower local leaders and communities, especially in those places lacking local agency.
My Bill will truly breathe life back into local areas and will see our high streets once again booming with good businesses.
People rightly want to be proud of where they live and call home. Your local Conservative team has a great record of securing investment to boost pride in our area.
We have to date secured £17.6 million in Kidsgrove from the Government’s Town Deal fund;
improvements to Tunstall’s High Street, using money from the £56 million Levelling Up Fund I secured working with Jack Brereton and Jo Gideon; as well as Stoke-on-trent City Council’s near £7 million investment into refurbishing Tunstall Town Hall, bringing a family hub, police touchdown and council services to Tunstall, helping to boost footfall to our local market and shops.
My ongoing mission is to ensure the high streets of Burslem, Tunstall and Kidsgrove are places people want to come and feel safe to visit.
I have written to Councillor
Abi Brown to demand planning enforcement is taken against landlords whose shops have fallen into a bad state.
I am immensely proud that another one of my Bills has been adopted by the Government.
On top of my Desecration of War Memorials Bill, which secured greater protection for war memorials and war graves to our glorious dead, my Proper Maintenance of Land Bill is another big stride in restoring pride in our local communities.
As such I cannot express my thanks enough to the Prime Minister, Stokeon-trent City Council, and Michael Gove for their shared support and vision.
However, I do of course recognise that further challenges lie ahead as the world bounces back from the pandemic and continues to deal with ongoing issues related to the Ukrainian conflict and cost-of-living issue.
Nonetheless, this Government will continue to support the British people through these difficult times.
The Chancellor’s announcement on Thursday that a further £15 billion of support will be made available for our most needy ahead of rising energy bills this winter is further proof of this Government’s commitment to ensuring the very best for the British people.