ALMOST every week, I receive emotive letters from constituents whose lives have been blighted by poor housing over recent years. Sometimes they’re among the 25,000 people on the waiting list for social housing, but even when they do get into a home, they, and even children, have had to live in environments riddled with damp and mould.

Meanwhile, in the private sector, hard-working people have been thrown out of their homes with virtually no warning, through no fault evictions.

I’m determined to help people from all walks to life get access to decent and secure homes – because shelter isn’t a luxury; it’s a basic right.

I made an election pledge to help tackle the Cornish housing crisis – delivering the right homes to the right people in the right placed supported by the correct infrastructure.

So, I am pleased to see that the Renters’ Rights Bill is completing its progression through Parliament – aiming to create a high-quality private rented sector, with a level playing field between landlords and tenants that makes renting privately secure and affordable. 

Renters are at the centre of a housing crisis here in Cornwall, and this bill will give people much greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes for longer, build lives in their communities, and avoid the risk of homelessness. 

And for those who want to buy a home, The Spending Review announced the biggest investment in social and affordable housing in a generation with the overwhelming amount of this going to genuinely social rent homes. This is supported by the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will help to end the ‘ivory tower’ systems that have prevented new homes from being built.

Of course, carrying out a complete update of the rental sector will never be easy and, whilst some landlords spuriously make it sound as if houses will disappear off the face of the earth, those with a more balanced view who have contacted me are not wrong to point out that a well-functioning private rented sector is required for developers,. That is why demand stimulation for the construction of affordable homes is so important.

Most landlords are responsible, and provide high-quality homes - playing a valuable role in the housing system. I am listening – and am fully prepared to support landlords working to navigate the new rules in good faith, e.g. by de-clogging the courts system required to ensure tenants are acting lawfully too, which I have discussed with the new Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood.

Thankfully, the new arrangements do not affect existing processes where evictions are warranted, such as for anti-social behaviour and criminal activity – it just affords renters need greater security and better rights. 

Because this is an absolute priority, and for all the talk of bills and policies – we must never forget what this is really about – the quality of life for the tens of thousands of people across Cornwall struggling to get proper housing.