CAMPAIGNS
Save the 205 Bus!
I strongly oppose plans announced to axe the 205 bus route between Paddington and Baker Street.
This will create unnecessary delays for residents, who will need to change to the 27 bus to get to Paddington Station and to access St Mary’s hospital.
The 205 bus route is popular and well-used, and there is no clear rationale for getting rid of it at this stage, and so I am calling for residents to join with me in opposing these plans.
Sign the below petition, which I will deliver to the Mayor of London, to show how strongly our community opposes this change.
Help me tackle short-term lets
There are more than 13,000 properties being let out in Westminster on short-term letting sites like Airbnb and Booking.com.
The majority of these are well-run spare rooms being used by owners to generate some additional income in welcoming guests to our world-leading capital. But a small minority are ruining this reputation.
I have heard from residents reports of anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping from guests, whole homes being let out past the 90-day limit before which planning permission is needed, and even tenants illegally sub-letting their homes on Airbnb without their landlord’s permission.
Nationally, I have held a debate in Parliament calling for proper regulation of short-term letting sites. This includes:
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A compulsory registration scheme that captures each individual property being let out on a short-term basis.
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Commercial regulation on whole-home accommodation being let out on a short-term basis including a named, verified and accountable individual, gas safety certificates, commercial waste contracts and insurance.
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Resourcing local authorities to enforce existing regulations through a small fee for short-term letting providers to enter the compulsory registration scheme.
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But I need your help to build a case against these rogue actors. If you have experienced problems with short-term lets in the Cities of London and Westminster, leave your experience below and my team will be in touch to get more information:
Share your experience with leasehold, freehold and commonhold
I am proud that this Government has come in with a clear plan to fix the feudal leasehold system. After the Conservatives watered down promised reform, I am glad to see that Labour will implement the recommendations of the Law Commission in reforming leasehold in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill.
This is not the end of the conversation, however, and I want to see more done to continue to address the problems in leasehold, and to ensure that any transition to freehold and commonhold tenures is smooth.
I have joined the APPG for Leasehold & Commonhold Reform and will be continuing to campaign in this area, and would like to hear from constituents on their experiences of these tenures.
Please be in contact with me to share your experience and my team will get in touch if we need any more information:
Promoted by Lucy Atkinson on behalf of Rachel Blake for the Labour Party, both at 4G Shirland Mews, London W9 3DY