#Bedsinsheds

Guest post on her speech to the London Labour Party Biennial Conference last Saturday.

"Good morning Chair, Conference, my name is Sanchia Alasia and I’m here as a Greater London UNISON Labour Link delegate, asking you to support housing composite no.2. As a Councillor in Barking and Dagenham I am seeing an increasing amount of sheds in gardens that are becoming an ever increasing occurrence for people’s dwellings in my ward.

This is simply not acceptable. In order to deal with this issue effectively, with the landlords who take advantage of vulnerable residents, UNISON believes that we need to give our enforcement professionals the tools to enforce effectively, not on a voluntary basis, but a mandatory one.

The current laws that we have are too slow and expensive to implement and the government’s response is woefully inadequate. UNISON urges you to support this composite to make it a clear and simple criminal offence to allow tenants in premises that are not fit for human habitation and to hold our landlords to account. Conference please support this motion. Thank you".