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Here's the Mancunian Way for today:
Hello,
It may only be November 29 but it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in Manchester - particularly outside some of the city’s eateries.
If nothing else, it’s a nice free light show that you can admire from afar. Although the Christmas trees outside Albert’s Schloss are so massive you might have a job getting through the door, especially after a strudel.
We’re going to be looking at housing in today’s newsletter - specifically empty homes, rent hikes and calls for ‘no-fault’ evictions to be scrapped.
Let’s begin.
'Get on with the job'
“Not a day goes by without our emergency helpline taking yet more calls from families who are being turfed out of their homes because of no-fault evictions,” says Shelter chief executive Polly Neate.
She says the threat of evictions ‘looms large’ amid a landscape of rising rents as tenants struggle with a cost of living crisis.
She’s among many calling for ‘no fault’ evictions to be banned as soon as possible.
The government has promised to ban Section 21 evictions - which currently allow landlords to terminate tenancies without giving any reason and with just two months’ notice.
But in the meantime, they continue with 399 Greater Manchester households threatened with homelessness due to a Section 21 no-fault eviction between April and June 2022, Richard Ault of Reach's Data Unit has found.
No-fault evictions were banned during the Covid-19 pandemic, but that came to an end in May of last year.
Between April and June 2021, 233 households in our area were threatened with a no-fault eviction, meaning the number of Section 21 orders issued in Greater Manchester has increased by 71 per cent.
Wigan had more than any other area in the region, with 117, and residents there were also most likely to face eviction by their landlords. In Spring alone the equivalent of around eight households in every 10,000 were presented with a Section 21 order.
Shadow housing secretary and Wigan MP Lisa Nandy says the data is ‘stark’ and has promised that Labour would bring forward emergency legislation to ban Section 21 evictions ‘immediately’.
Shelter also wants the ban to be brought into force quickly. “This winter is going to be brutal as the cost of living crisis goes from bad to worse, and the threat of rising rents and evictions loom large,” Ms Neate says.
“Not a day goes by without our emergency helpline taking yet more calls from families who are being turfed out of their homes because of no-fault evictions. Many of these families won’t be able to find another rental – and instead may spend a bleak winter trapped in emergency accommodation with nowhere to cook or eat a meal, let alone put up a Christmas tree.
“The government promised to ban no-fault evictions, it must get on with the job and make the Renters’ Reform Bill law. And to protect people from the threat of homelessness this winter, it must unfreeze housing benefit so families can pay their rent.”
The Renters Reform Bill, which includes the clause banning Section 21 evictions, is not expected to become law until late next year.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities says the government is ‘committed’ to the changes and has provided £316m this year to councils ‘to help ensure no family is without a roof over their heads’.
A spokesperson said: “Our interventions are working – our Homelessness Reduction Act has seen over half a million households prevented from becoming homeless or supported into settled accommodation since 2018 and our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will continue the delivery of affordable homes across the country."
Christmas Eve rent hike
Of course it’s not just the threat of eviction that hangs over renters. Rising rents are also facing residents up and down the country.
And in Salford, tenants in a tower labelled 'the biggest eyesore in Salford' are being hit by a 20 per cent rent hike, on Christmas Eve.
Tenants of 120 apartments at Briar Hill Court, in Pendleton, will see their monthly rent rise from £545 to £650, as Damon Wilkinson and Nick Jackson report.
Residents of the Sterling Property Management-run block claim the lifts frequently break down and take days to be repaired, and outdated water heating systems cost £100 a week to run.
Tenant Benjamin Simpson, 37, says he’s being hit with ‘city centre prices’. “I think they're trying to gentrify the area and drive people out. It's a prime location.
“It's nice people here. It's a really good community. But a lot of people in here are on the breadline. I don't know where they'll find another £100 a month.”
Martin Dwyer, 56, has lived there for five years and says many residents are on benefits that won’t cover the full amount of the new rent. "It's a lot of money, especially the way things are these days. It's just not on, it's scandalous really," he says.
Pendleton and Charlestown ward Coun John Warmisham accused the block owners of 'under investment' and described it as 'the biggest eyesore in Salford' in a September meeting of Salford Council.
"I really feel for these residents," he said. "This should not be happening in this day and age - people not looking after properties and then putting rent up."
Sterling Property Management declined to comment.
We cannot abide empty homes
Empty homes cannot be abided in Manchester while so many are in place of a need to live, a city councillor has said.
Earlier this month, the Mancunian Way reported on the thousands of properties in the city classed as second homes. These are homes that are unlived in, but are fully furnished.
They can include holiday lets like AirBnBs as well as ‘buy-to-leave’ properties, which are purchased as investments and left unoccupied in the expectation that their value will rise.
In fact, Manchester has more than almost any other local authority in England, with 6,360, according to new research by Action on Empty Homes.
Councillor Gavin White, Manchester Council’s housing lead, says demand for decent housing in the city is consistently on the rise and ‘we cannot abide homes that are left empty when an owner could bring them into active use, offering a home to someone who is in need’.
He says the reasons some privately-owned homes are left empty ‘can be complex and out of the control of the owner’ but owners are encouraged to use their homes where possible.
In 2019 the council approved changes to Council Tax meaning the cost of an empty and unfurnished home is double that of an occupied property. Owners of a home that has been empty for more than five years will face a 200 per cent Council Tax increase, rising to 300 per cent after 10 years.
"These steps were brought in to discourage the hoarding of properties and incentivise landlords to keep properties in the market and available to Manchester residents,” Coun White says.
“In recent years, the Council has also brought in schemes such as the Empty Homes Cluster Plan and the Ben Street Redevelopment Project where we have invested in local areas to ensure dozens of properties have been brought back into use, creating homes that residents want and need.
"For homes that are being used for short-term rentals, Councils have few powers to intervene in their usage as the planning approvals for such properties are the same as regular residential homes. Our focus is to maintain a record of the properties we know that are being used for short-term rentals and ensure they are being managed properly.
"And we have consistently asked for increased powers, as London has, to manage the number of short-term lets in a particular area - but so far there seems little appetite at a national level to support Councils in this way."
Manchester’s empty homes rose by 7.9 per cent compared to 2021, when there were 5,894 such properties.
Just three local authorities in England have a higher number than our city - Cornwall (13,292), Kensington & Chelsea (7,492), and Camden (7,125).
Salford grows and grows
Salford has had the biggest population increase in the North West, according to the latest census data.
The figures provide a snapshot of populations across England and Wales on the day of the census, March 21 2021.
Salford’s population grew by 15.4 per cent, from around 233,900 in 2011 to 269,900 in 2021.
Manchester’s population size increased by 9.7 per cent, from around 503,100 in 2011 to 552,000 in 2021. This is higher than the overall increase for England, where the population grew by nearly 3.5 million to 56,489,800.
Other Greater Manchester areas, such as Stockport saw an increase of 4.1 per cent, while Trafford saw smaller growth of 3.8 per cent.
Weather etc
- Wednesday: Overcast. 7C.
- Road closures: A560 Stockport Road in both directions closed due to water main work between A627 Dowson Road and Hill Street. Until December 8.
- Trains: Special timetable operating on Transpennine Express due to shortage of train crews. Passengers are advised to check their journey before travelling.
- Trams: Revised service on Manchester Metrolink due to over running engineering works at Piccadilly Gardens. Some Metrolink services are operating with changes until the end of November when the works can be finished.
- Trivia question: Which Manchester theatre was previously used for selling cotton and textiles?
Manchester headlines
Royal Exchange: The interior of the Royal Exchange Theatre, in Manchester, has been ranked as the third most beautiful in the UK, according to a study by Premier Inn. The research involved using eye tracking technology to record how long volunteers looked at images of different theatres. It was only beaten by Shakespeare’s Globe in London and the London Coliseum. The exterior was ranked as the fifth most beautiful in the UK. More here.
Bradley tram: The Blackpool tram that knocked down and killed Coronation Street villain Alan Bradley has been saved. A total of 27million people tuned in to watch the 1989 episode, which showed Bradley chase partner Rita Fairclough into the path of the tram. The double-decker vehicle was facing eviction from its old home. But £2,500 has now been raised to move it to the resort town’s Tramtown Museum.
Havoc: Business leaders in the north have delivered a stinging message to Transport Secretary Mark Harper, warning him of a 'crisis on our rail network'. Members of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership have written to Mr Harper and told him a 'wave of cancellations is wreaking havoc on the Northern economy'. The letter was signed by bosses at nearly 40 companies and organisations, including Manchester Airports Group, Virgin Money, The Piece Hall Trust and Hybrid Air Vehicles. Mr Harper is due to meet several elected mayors from northern cities later this week. More here.
High demand: Cancellations to surgeries cannot be ruled out as the NHS enters an extremely challenging winter, a Greater Manchester health chief says. The warning comes as patients are urged to choose the right place for their illness or injury because A&E waiting rooms and hospital beds are under crippling demand. Greater Manchester health leaders have said keeping operations on track, particular cancer surgeries, is vital despite winter pressures on the NHS. However, demand on the system is so high that pausing elective surgeries is ‘always a risk’ over the coming months, according to Dr Manisha Kumar, Greater Manchester’s chief medical officer and GP. More here.
Worth a read
With the World Cup well underway, you might be wondering where to get a post-match meal. Food writer Ben Arnold has the answer.
Earlier this month he went to Darbar, in the shadow of Strangeways, a little way up Cheetham Hill Road, to try out the Persian food on offer.
“The decor is heavy on the ‘ski lodge’, with an impressively vaulted ceiling, all walls clad in wood panelling, and wonderful Persian artefacts hanging from the walls,” he writes. “Some of which - the long-handled axes, for example - look like they could be a bit on the deadly side, in the wrong hands. But there’s also a handsome old tea urn too, and a tapestry runs the length of the ceiling.”
You can read the full review here.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
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The answer to today's trivia question is: The Royal Exchange.
