Council to compete with letting agents

Hackney Council are taking a radical approach to housing tenants by setting up as a letting agent.

The council’s is setting up a not-for-profit model of a letting agency, with the aim to rent out properties on behalf of landlords without charging administration fees to prospective private sector tenants. 

The council's 'letting agency service' will only accept those landlords and properties approved under the  London Landlord Accreditation Scheme.

As part of the service the council will guarantee a landlord there rent even if a property falls empty. 

A pilot for the scheme is hoped to start in April, with the scheme fully up and running by the summer.

Cllr Karen Alcock, cabinet member for property and housing policy, said: “Hackney is a place where some rents are going up considerably and what the council is trying to do is to find different levels of affordability for people. Rather than going to agencies and the property going to the highest bidder, we’re working on longer tenancies – we’re trying to create a more stable rental market for those who can’t afford to rent but earn too much to get a council house. We’re trying to help people stay in the borough in properties of a good standard.”

The council has not said how it would fund the rents on empty properties.

Landlord insurance - portfolio rates