Children’s Minister Claire Coutinho has written to landlords in England to urge them to review restrictive clauses in tenant contracts which the Government says is hampering would be childminders.
The Government said blanket bans in tenant contracts and mortgage agreements on using a home for business purposes was one reason more people were not signing up to be childminders.
But chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, Ben Beadle, has said that landlords should not be held accountable for the ongoing childcare crisis.
He said: “No landlord wants to stand in the way of the provision of childcare, but the Government must recognise that housing providers are not the issue.
“The Government’s encouragement to landlords to ‘be open-minded’ is no-doubt well-meaning but fails entirely to acknowledge the very real issues facing the childcare industry or the legitimate concerns of housing providers.
“Mortgage lenders and insurers need to be more flexible in enabling landlords to allow childminders to operate from the properties they let. Tenancy deposits must also be allowed to reflect the greater risk of damage to properties being used for childminding.
“We will continue to work with the Government on the difficulties and barriers landlords face in enabling tenants to become childminders but refuse to accept the blame for systemic issues in another industry.”
I want to see more childminders supporting children with high quality education and care.
— Claire Coutinho MP (@ClaireCoutinho) August 21, 2023
Today, I’ve written to housing associations, home builders and landlords to make sure childminder can use their properties wherever they can. pic.twitter.com/ZwRng6sqOX
