Former councillor Jonny Bucknell

• IMAGINE the shock when one of our new members turns up at the office to talk about what she has been experiencing at the hands of her landlord, and every time she tries to speak she bursts into tears.

Put simply, this is what living in the private rented sector is like for lots of people – not in 1822 or 1922, but today in 2022.

We suspect that some people reading this letter will think of Jonny Bucknell as an amusing, harmless, and somewhat eccentric member of the Conservative Party, who used to be a councillor in Camden, until according to the article (Rogue landlord told tenant that she needed ‘good slap’, March 11), he was stopped from standing again “after previous landlord offences”.

However Ramona Behravan will know him as the landlord who made her life a complete
and utter nightmare.

What makes things worse is that he not only failed to do the basic things that a landlord should do like provide a safe and well-maintained home but, as the article points out, he chose instead to have extremely inappropriate conversa­tions with Dr Behravan.

To quote his own words: “Of course these aren’t normal things for a land­lord to say to a tenant.” So why did he say them?

Again, to put it very simply, the private rented sector in 2022 is about those who have too much power (landlords), and those who have too little power (tenants).

As Dr Behravan said in the article: “I needed to have a roof over my head so I did not complain. I should not have to put up with this just to have a home. When I eventually complained he said I was going to be evicted.”

Sadly, this is an all too common story that we hear from renters of all different ages, back­grounds and circumstances not only in Camden, but beyond through our Renters’ Rights London project that works in some of the capital’s other boroughs.

It’s also why we have repeatedly said that the private rented sector is not currently “fit for purpose” and the power imbalance that exists between land­lords and their tenants needs to be radically altered.

The question we would put to the landlords is: Would you be prepared to live like this? If the answer is “no”, then understand why change has to come and why it has to come soon.

ROBERT TAYLOR
Camden Federation of Private Tenants