Members of the Oxford Tenants Union will be presenting to the Panel on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on tenants within the private rented sector. This will be followed by time for discussion. The Panel is asked to consider the issues raised and make any recommendations accordingly.

NB This is no report for this item.

The Panel welcomed two representatives from the Oxford Tenants Union to speak on the impact they had seen of Covid-19 on private rented sector tenants.

Following an introduction to the work of the Oxford Tenants Union the Panel were informed of the changing challenges faced by tenants during the Covid-19 pandemic. Initially, concerns were raised over failures by landlords and agents to maintain social distancing, attending properties for viewings unannounced or entering without tenant permission. Latterly, problems had arisen in shared properties where tenants had been held responsible for the full rent following the departure of a house-mate. The pressure of paying rent during the pandemic had caused many people to be ‘sick with worry’ throughout, and those who had few alternative options were facing sofa-surfing or rough sleeping. Maintaining people in their homes was suggested to be the best means of preventing a significant rise in homelessness. As one of the places nationally with the most acute ratio between rents and earnings, Oxford would be particularly vulnerable to such an increase.

Panel members sought clarification on the scale of the problems within Oxford and the proportion of people the Council would have a duty to house. Knowing these figures precisely was acknowledged to be a challenge, with multiple advice providers in the city, and the unwillingness of people to seek help until being at the point of near-crisis.

In discussion it was recognised that the Council held very little power over landlords. However, it was suggested that the experience of the Tenants Union was that communication over good practice, and raising awareness of tenants’ needs could be important ways of improving tenant-landlord relations during the pandemic. Raising awareness of tenants’ rights was also an important undertaking. The difficulty in communicating with at-risk tenants, and landlords was recognised as challenging. A challenge faced by the Tenants Union was in communicating information on tenants rights to non-English speaking communities, many of whom had an elevated housing risk profile.

Panel members discussed whether there existed a need for a social lettings agency. The concept was given support by Panel invitees on the basis that if it followed similar schemes elsewhere in the county would increase the availability of social housing in a city with a high unmet need.

The mutual threat to landlords and tenants caused by the pandemic was noted by the Panel, though it was recognised that the earlier and more acute damage would be felt by tenants. Being able to support and intervene early was identified as crucial in preventing homelessness but there was a potential blockage in knowing who was at risk until very late stages.

In a context of growing job losses and increased benefit claimants, the Panel discussed the high levels of non-compliance by landlords following the legal ruling that ‘no DSS’ clauses in adverts were discriminatory.

It was AGREED to make the following recommendations:

-          That the Council uses its existing channels of communication to share information on tenants’ rights and advice relevant to the pandemic, and that it will seek to use its existing links with local community groups to improve access to that information amongst non-English speaking groups.

-          That the Council identifies tenants at risk of eviction and communicates with them proactively regarding the advice and support available to them.

-          That the Council uses its convening and influencing power to hear, collect and share the experience of renters and landlords with a view to signposting to good practice and increasing awareness of the potential for lose-lose situations if such good practice is not followed by landlords.