Michael Gove says his bill for leasehold reform will be a step towards easing the burden on landlords and homeowners alike, clarifying estate fees and removing the need for many people to pay unreasonable ground rents.
It's a smaller step than some had hoped, but a step for which both residents and landlords doing their best for tenants can be grateful. Because an improvement in the affordability of housing will also be passed on to renters. This policy change plugs into a wider need for fair dealing in the housing sector – not just at the level of politicians and developers, but also the level of the individual.
I have personal experience of this. Landlords have a bad reputation, often for good reason. Christians do too, perhaps also for good reason. So being both – like me – is either a recipe for disaster or a brilliant opportunity to practice being a whole life-disciple of Jesus.
To be a Christian landlord is to open a home to someone who needs it. To sort dripping taps, broken boilers, and defunct dishwashers. To welcome tenants with a bunch of flowers as well as the keys to the utility cupboard. To be a safe, trusted person for those who are strangers in a foreign land.
To be a Christian landlord is also agonising. Spiked mortgage renewal rates combined with the relentless 'estate management fee' invoices and ground rent charges has meant increasing rent beyond what's affordable. Tenants have explained their desperate need, inability to pay, and asked me to meet them halfway. I am both a cause and effect of the housing crisis.
As a result, the hard yards in Whitehall and Westminster that have led to this draft bill should be recognised as good work that could help reduce the cost-of-living crisis associated with high housing costs. And for those of us who have power and influence – from landlords to policymakers – our first instinct has to be to lean towards mercy and grace over naked profit.
Tim Yearsley is Head of Innovation at the LICC (London Institute for Contemporary Christianity). To learn more about LICC, visit: https://licc.org.uk/
