In Disrepair: Bristol's broken renting system

In Disrepair: Bristol’s broken renting system

It’s no secret that renting in Bristol can be a nightmare, from spiralling costs to high demand, poor conditions, discrimination and insecurity.

This series will tell the stories of renters in Bristol, dig into how the pandemic has affected the crisis, and, crucially, what can be done about it. We will join the dots between local issues and the wider housing crisis in the UK, holding the council and central government to account on pledges for action.

We are now investigating rogue landlords and poor living conditions, so you can share you experience confidentially here.

Illustration: Sophia Checkley

Illustration of rows of orange and green houses plus cards from the game Monopoly.

Investigations

Bristol council paying huge sums of money to rent homes from banned landlord

Back in 2022, Bristol City Council obtained a five-year court order barring landlord Naomi Knapp from renting out her homes. Now, it’s spending hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money to use her properties as emergency accommodation.

Alex Turner and Daisy Steinhardt

Reports

Council to launch ‘overdue’ consultation on expanding landlord licensing

Billy Stockwell

In Disrepair: Bristol's broken renting system

No fault evictions on the rise in Bristol amid calls for renting reforms to be strengthened

Matty Edwards

In Disrepair: Bristol's broken renting system

End to no-fault evictions in sight as reforms to the private rented sector finally arrive

Housing campaigners have welcomed the long-anticipated Renters Reform Bill entering Parliament and committed to closing any loopholes for landlords to exploit.

Matty Edwards

In Disrepair: Bristol's broken renting system

The Cable view: Bristol renters can’t wait any longer for reform

Matty Edwards

In Disrepair: Bristol's broken renting system

Bristol renters descend on Westminster to demand greater rights and protections

Matty Edwards

In Disrepair: Bristol's broken renting system

A copy of the Bristol Cable on a yellow background with a front cover about rent controls. A blue silhouette holds a placard that reads "no rent increase".

Cable reporting inspires action on rogue landlord database

A win for transparency, as motion to address the city's private renting crisis passes, with the Cable acknowledged as a key contributor to the process.

Eliz Mizon and Matty Edwards

In Disrepair: Bristol's broken renting system

Bristol councillors set to back rent controls and local database of rogue landlords

Councillors will vote next week on a motion setting out a range of interventions in the increasingly unaffordable private rented sector, including a database to name and shame the worst landlords, as highlighted by the Cable in 2022.

Matty Edwards

In Disrepair: Bristol's broken renting system

Image of terraced homes in Redfield, Bristol

‘It leaves you with a sense of dread’: Bristol’s broken rental market one of England’s worst for families on housing benefit

Over a whole month, just one two-bed property in the city was affordable to private renters claiming housing benefits, according to new research by the Bureau for Investigative Journalism.

Alex Turner

In Disrepair: Bristol's broken renting system

Bristol landlords are cashing in on lucrative short-term lets

As properties are advertised at eye-watering prices, there have been calls for regulation of short-term and holiday lets in Bristol.

Matty Edwards

In Disrepair: Bristol's broken renting system

Is there such thing as an ethical landlord?

Simon Broadhead rents out 10 properties in Bristol, and claims to be an ethical landlord. But what does that mean and what’s on the horizon for reform of the private rented sector?

Gavriel Hollander

In Disrepair: Bristol's broken renting system

Bristol campaigners and politicians welcome ‘long overdue’ reforms for private renters

Scrapping no fault evictions, better standards and a potential landlord registration scheme could become law. But more needs to be done on the city’s renting crisis in the meantime.

Matty Edwards

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