Crack-down on rogue landlords and illegal nightly letting
Up to 26th May 2015, short-lets of less than 90 days were illegal in Westminster. Under the present law, householders can let out their homes for up to 90 days a year. Westminster City Council has absolutely no quarrel with this principle; but we do have a big quarrel with the way this freedom is being abused, by commercial agents who let out properties per night year-round, to people who have no notion of our City’s waste-disposal and recycling systems. It’s unacceptable that a multi-million-pound on-line short-term-letting agency, said to pay just two-hundred-thousand-pounds tax in the UK, costs Westminster City Council many more times that in clearance and enforcement against fly-tipping and litter-dumping. There is also a cost in terms of community cohesion. To thrive as a community, we need a stable, long-term residential population, which is disrupted by these unlicensed nightly-lets, which deprive the community of much-needed housing.
In her Leader’s Speech to Council on 8th November (which can be found here), Councillor Nickie Aiken gave notice to irresponsible landlords. Nickie has set up the new My Westminster Housing Standards Task Force, tasked with going after landlords of unsafe properties and illegal short-term lets. The team will consist of officers from Environmental Health, Trading Standards, Planning Enforcement and City Inspectors. They will conduct Health and Safety investigations, enquire about insurance-compliance, issue fines. They will be on the tail of rogue-landlords and illegal letting-agencies, to the maximum powers of the law – and we shall be pressing the Government for more powers to deal with evident tenancy-abuses so as to protect everyone who lives in Bryanston and Dorset Square Ward.
May 2018 Council Elections
Councillors Adnan Mohammed and Julia Alexander will be standing down in May 2018 – but we’ll be as active as ever on your behalf between now and then! Please continue to send us your queries and concerns as normal. Our no-idling campaign is ongoing, please click here to sign Westminster City Council's no idling pledge.
Above photo: Cllr Julia Alexander supporting Westminster City Council's #Dontbeidle campaign
Introducing Eoghain Murphy, candidate for BDS ward on 3rd May 2018
Growing up in Notting Hill, Eoghain Murphy gained an instinctive feeling for the intersecting communities that are unique to London, and which are a vital part of every neighbourhood, including Bryanston and Dorset Square. After settling in Marylebone twelve years ago, Eoghain immersed himself in local life, developing a deep affection for the area and its community. For the last four years, Eoghain has found time to volunteer at a local soup-kitchen, while also holding down a demanding job in the City. Blessed with a good baritone voice, Eoghain enjoys the many local opportunities for choral singing. He is an active member of the Marylebone Association, the Marylebone Forum and the St Marylebone Society.
As an engaged local resident, Eoghain is keen to see effective and responsive local government. As a prospective Councillor, Eoghain says, ‘In this location, we will perennially have to deal with noise, air-pollution and anti-social behaviour, and these themes are crucial to good City Management; but the location also generates exceptional challenges to our community. The immediate challenge is to mitigate the effects on residents of the Mayor’s proposed pedestrianisation of Oxford Street.’
Introducing Barbara Arzymanow, candidate for BDS ward on 3rd May 2018
Barbara Arzymanow has lived in Westminster for 35 years, during which time she married and raised four sons, who are all now adults. When her youngest son was born very prematurely in 1996, Barbara had first-hand experience of why community-services really matter. Two years later, Barbara fought her first ‘political’ campaign (to maintain local services). Since then, she has campaigned effectively for changes in local transport, education, healthcare, housing and the preservation of local heritage. It is Barbara’s nature and training to dig for facts, a characteristic that lends purpose and authority to her community campaigns. Now retired from her business career, and living just 1km north of our Ward, Barbara plans to dedicate herself to being a full-time community-champion in Bryanston and Dorset Square.
As a prospective Councillor, Barbara is keen to listen and respond to residents’ needs, and to work with the wealth of local organisations that represent them. Barbara would like to build on the progress we have made on air-quality, in particular around Marylebone Station and in the Marylebone Low Emission Neighbourhood, and to promote effective traffic-calming measures to protect our residential areas. As a long-standing Governor of two Westminster-maintained Nursery Schools, Barbara is a strong advocate for high-quality Early Years provision.