Birmingham City Council has confirmed that an independent inquiry is to be held into the growth of exempt accommodation in the region.
A recent council meeting heard how some landlords in the city had taken advantage of regulatory loopholes to exploit vulnerable residents and run poor quality accommodation.
The inquiry is to be launched following a motion raised by councillor Sharon Thompson.
The development comes after a recent report published by the Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities parliamentary committee showed the exempt accommodation system in England to be a “complete mess”.
The report said the quality of exempt accommodation in some instances is “beyond disgraceful”.
Initially responding to the report, Thompson said: “We very much welcome the recommendations in this report which reflects what Birmingham City Council has been saying for a long time in relation to supported exempt accommodation.
“Thanks to the tireless work of so many housing groups, tenant organisations, and local forums in Birmingham, the government has finally woken up to the scale of the problem and based on this report they must now commit parliamentary time to bringing in new legislation or backing Bob Blackman’s Supported Housing Bill.”
She added: “We will not become complacent locally. We are bringing forward a council motion to back Crisis’ ‘Regulate the Rogues’ campaign and requesting an independent inquiry into the growth of the sector in Birmingham, whilst also seeking more transparency from members with an interest in exempt accommodation.”
The council hopes its investigation will strengthen the case for nationwide legislative reform.
Over the past three years, more than 22,000 exempt accommodation rooms have been made available in Birmingham – around 2,000 of which were commissioned by the council.
Image: Birmingham City Council. Credit: Caron Badkin/Shutterstock
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