Shelter CEO wants to work with private landlords

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Shelter CEO wants to work with private landlords

Shelter’s new chief executive hints she is willing to work with private landlords to tackle the housing crisis.

In an interview with Inside Housing, Sarah Elliott says she has had a constructive meeting with the chief executive of a landlord association.

Ms Elliott became the head of Shelter in September last year, after Polly Neate stood down following seven years in the role.

Going to have to work as a collective to end homelessness

Ms Elliott told Inside Housing that under her leadership, the housing charity wants to take a “convening role to get everyone around the table.”

She said she has already met with a private landlord association to discuss the impact of the Section 21 abolition under the Renters’ Rights Act. She did not name the association but hinted at a shift in the way Shelter engages with the private rented sector.

She told Inside Housing: “I think we’re very pragmatic, and I think our role will need to evolve. Where there are rogue landlords who are not doing the right thing, we clearly will not be on their side.

“But I do think we’re going to have to work as a collective if we’re going to improve the system and end homelessness.”

Ms Elliott added the housing charity wants to work with councils and housing developers to build more social housing.

Ms Neate criticised private landlords

This marks a shift from her predecessor, Polly Neate, who had criticised private landlords and accused the Conservative government of “bowing down to vested interests while renters are marched out of their homes in their thousands” over delays to the Renters’ (Reform) Bill.

Ms Neate also claimed that Section 21 evictions were a driving force behind homelessness, despite government evidence suggesting otherwise.

Last year, Ms Neate was nominated as a crossbench Peer in the House of Lords, with the Independent House of Lords Appointments Commission describing her as “an expert in social policy, specialising in housing, homelessness and violence against women and girls.”

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