Back in 2001 I was a Green Party member of the London Assembly and we initiated the setting up of the Living Wage Commission. It has helped hundreds of thousands of Londoners get paid a bit more each week as employers have voluntarily adopted it’s calculations. Now, I’m suggesting we do the same for renters across the country with Living Rent Commissions that can calculate rents in their area. Continue reading “Renters Rights Bill Report Stage Day 3 – a Living Rent Commission”
These are simple changes, but they are important. They would change the lives of our ageing population for the better, now and in the future—and that is what a progressive Government should do Continue reading “My amendments to Renters’ Rights Bill Report Stage Day 2”
This amendment, which I feel strongly about, is designed to help renters and the Government. It aims to improve upon a good policy that creates warmer homes and cheaper bills. The climate benefits from the warmer home grant, as do landlords, so why not guarantee that tenants get cheaper bills without a rent rise for a couple of years? Continue reading “My amendment to Renters’ Rights Bill Report Stage Day 1”
Natalie moved my amendment for me on Monday saying ‘All the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Members of the House who are still here at 12.47 am will note that I am not Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb. My friend is the Green lark, and I am the Green owl, so you get me after midnight’ Continue reading “My amendment on Day 5 of the Renters’ Rights Bill Committee Stage”
The Resolution Foundation found that private renters were spending on average a third of their income on housing costs. This is getting worse rather than better, and it is not just a London problem Continue reading “My further amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill”
Amendment 35 is an attempt to give tenants a guarantee that they will also get some direct benefit from the drive for net zero with two years of lower energy bills, without that saving being cancelled out by a landlord focusing on profiting from a government grant.
Amendment 71 aims to shift the debate firmly on to the needs of the tenant and to discourage landlords from constantly changing their minds about letting out their properties. It builds on the Government’s welcome attempt to get rid of no-fault evictions by adding a new clause to the eviction process that gives the tenant a one-month financial head start. Continue reading “My amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill”
Jenny is supporting the Healthy Homes campaign to introduce a set of basic principles for the building of new homes that will stop the building of the slums of the future.
Elected greens always tend to punch above their weight. Whether it is a local council chamber, the London Assembly, or Parliament itself, a Green in the room will change the dynamic of most conversations. Sian Berry has a string of successes from her time as a member of Camden council and the London Assembly. This podcast (on Podbean) talks about some of the key changes Sian has achieved and gives a taste of what will happen in the 2020 Mayoral campaign. Continue reading “Podcast: Sian Berry and green achievements”
I raised two crucial issues about community housing in the Lords. First, the need to put an end to estate demolitions that destroy working-class communities. I have seen several council estates demolished against the wishes of the residents themselves and when rebuilt the social housing is less affordable and some of the housing is sold off privately and very expensively. I understand why Labour councils do it; they have been kept short of money by this Government. But it is an extremely damaging process.
My second point is about boosting community-owned housing. It has often been said that more housing could be built but often nimbys are blocking it—but in fact, many communities are stepping up and providing more affordable homes through community-led housing. Such groups have already built 800 homes in recent years, many in areas of outstanding natural beauty, having won support for more homes than the local council thought likely or even possible. In the spring of 2016, the Government announced the community housing fund, designed to help community-led groups build affordable homes. It could help them to build a further 12,000 homes over five years. The first year’s money went directly to councils, but the Government has still not released any funding for this financial year, more than halfway through the year. When I asked the Government in July when the money would be released I was told, “In due course”. The appropriate time would have been in March, after the sector submitted a detailed proposal to the Government. The longer it waits, the more projects get stuck in limbo and the fewer homes acceptable to local communities can be built. A decision from the Government on the community housing fund is long overdue. When will it happen?
My questions and the response can be found here
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb 