My article in the Huffington Post: Housing standards: It’s time to give Councils the powers to act

At present, many of our Local Authorities are in the strange position of being legally required to do something that they cannot do, and no one seems to mind, not least ministers with whom I have raised this matter. It all seems to a step too far for Government. After all, they don’t have to suffer the misery of poor housing personally.

The law of the land puts the responsibility for dealing

My speech on the Private Rented Sector Wednesday

This Wednesday I spoke in the Opposition Day debate on the Private Rented Sector, it was an incredibly useful debate which really hit home some of the pressures that people who rent their homes face on a daily basis. In the concluding speech, Don Foster, the Government Minister responding to the debate stated : “The hon. Member for Hyndburn (Graham Jones) talked about the need to review the

The launch of the Electrical Safety Register

I was recently written to by the Electrical Safety Council and the Electrical Contractors Association regarding the launch of the Electrical Safety Register.

The register, which is available at www.electricalsafetyregister.com lists over 36,000 contractors, to help homeowners find a safe electrician in their area. All of the companies on the Electrical Safety Register have been fully assessed

Ed Miliband pledges crackdown on rogue landlords cashing in on housing shortage

Ed Miliband has pledged to crackdown on rogue landlords cashing in on the housing shortage during his first major speech of 2013.During the speech to the Fabian Society, he said it is wrong to have a nation divided between those who own homes and those who do not.He also admitted that the last Labour government did not do enough for ordinary people.New Labour was 'too timid in enforcing rights

LETTER: Hyndburns housing crises - the shocking reality for many families

To Graham Jones MP, I would be grateful if you could read my story and look at the pictures I will attach as I feel I am not receiving the correct information from sources near to home.

I currently live in a terraced house in Accrington and it came to winter last year and I started to notice the windows leaked in, quite a large amount even after having the windows open for most of the day, for

Electrical Safety Campaign to improve safety in the Private Rented Sector

I have been campaigning for improved electrical safety in the private rented sector. Currently landlords are not required to have electrical safety certificates unlike Gas where they are required to be certificated as safe.

The law does state that 'electrical installations are safe at the beginning of any tenancy' under the 1985 Housing and Tenant Act. 

I have visited numerous properties where

Hyndburn's Labour Council - Woodnook Community Update | Dec. 2012

Your Labour Council continues to invest in Woodnook with further plans for wider  neighbourhood investment.


The Labour Party is committed to Woodnook with a £multi-million refurbishment programme about to begin.

The Tories failed to do anything in 13 years in Woodnook.

Labour Counclllors and I expect that residents will be kept informed. Below is the second Council newsletter detailing

BBC. New life for Accrington ghost streets of terraced homes

Developers are converting "two-up, two down" homes into four bedroom houses in Accrington

Dec 5, 2012 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-20594789


Waiting for customers can be a lonely vigil for Mohammed Zahir in his corner shop.
His business is marooned among a sea of boarded up terraced houses in Accrington, east Lancashire, serving a remnant of a once thriving community.

I'm backing the Electrical Safety Council's private rented sector proposals

I am backing the Electrical Safety Council's campaign for better regulations to protect tenants from bad landlords in the private rented sector.

I was horrified to read about the young mother electrocuted t death in her bath in front of her young children. The Thirza Whittle case from 2009 is an example - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1198470/

Investigation sees dramatic rise in complaints about landlords

A new investigation by Shelter today reveals how complaints
about landlords have risen dramatically in the past few years. 



The housing and homelessness charity contacted every local
authority in England to build a picture of the scale of the problem with rogue
landlords and what is being done to tackle it. Shockingly, the total number of
complaints made to local authorities has increased by

Private Landlords - regulation and why a licensing fee is required

Landlord Licensing has been brought in to part of Hyndburn's to regulate the private sector after years of  self regulation through landlord accreditation scheme failed to improve standards. Not surprising to the vast majority of people I speak to.

Local landlords appear now to have two grievances with the scheme. Good landlords are being included and why do they have to pay a £700 fee for a 5

Letting Away with it - 1 in 4 tenants ripped off by letting agents

New research by Shelter has found that almost one in four British people have been ripped off by a letting agent. In a YouGov poll of 5379 adults commissioned by the housing charity, 23% - equivalent to 11 million people - said they had been charged unfair fees by letting agents in England.

We have seen letting agents in Accrington align themselves with landlords whom the Council has had

Selective Licensing of Private Landlords in Hyndburn

It's been a campaign that has lasted 7 long years. Before the ink had dried on the 2004 Housing Act allowing local authorities to selectively licence private landlords, I and residents in Woodnook and Peel began to campaign for change.

To establish some form of system where not just the bad landlords had to conform to some form public justice but where minimum standards were in place to

Keep Renting Safe Campaign

I am supporting the Keep Renting Safe Campaign, which has been started by the National Private Tenants Organisation – a group representing the interests of those living in the private rented housing sector.

The campaign calls for compulsory inspections of the electrical installations and appliances supplied to tenants by landlords in all privately rented homes – not just HMOs.

The Electrical