50 signatures reached
To: City of Edinburgh Council
Ban Anti Tenant Ads on Lothian Buses
Calling for Edinburgh Council to ban adverts across the Lothian Buses/Transport network that feeds the narrative that tenants are disposable and profiteering from property is more important than providing long term homes, which also undermines the Edinburgh Council's City Housing Strategy.
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Why is this important?
Airbnb management service Nestify has recently launched an advertising campaign on Lothian Buses, encouraging landlords to consider short term lets, which feeds the narrative that tenants are disposable and profiteering from property is more important than providing long term homes.
These ads are also undermining the Edinburgh Council's City Housing Strategy.
More people are becoming homeless because they simply cannot afford to pay the rent or mortgage. To highlight how unaffordable housing and in-work poverty is in Edinburgh, according to Council figures, 30% of people in temporary accommodation are working. This is utterly and immensely ridiculous.
Yet we have Lothian Buses, a public-run transport infrastructure, promoting companies like Nestify who are actively exacerbating the housing crisis in Edinburgh, not to mention, the ad is an immense insult to tenants living in one of the least affordable places in the UK, with many struggling to afford to rent a home – never mind buy – and who live in fear of being kicked out at short notice to make way for short term lets.
Questions need to be asked regarding why a public-owned transport company in Edinburgh is willing to promote these kinds of ads and not local organisations with the same ambitions as Edinburgh Council to fix the housing crisis?
Every day millions of people see these ads and Edinburgh Council, as the largest parent of Lothian Buses (91% ownership), need to urgently review Lothian Buses’ advertisement policy.
There is precedent, a successful campaign in London run by Generation Rent who also worked together with Transport for London, which resulted in new guidelines being recently announced, banning all short term let adverts: (https://www.citymetric.com/politics/transport-london-has-banned-short-term-letting-ads-4785).
Transport for London's new policy, which Edinburgh Buses should consider adopting, states that any adverts seen to do the following would be banned from the network:
* Imply that removing properties from the private rental market for other rental purposes, such as short term lets to tourists, can be financially or materially advantageous to property owners;
* Promote companies or services which appear to rely on property owners removing their properties from the private rented sector;
* Appear to conflate short term lets with lettings in the private rented sector – the type of lettings the advert is promoting should be unambiguous;
* Advertise services for both types of lettings;
* Use phrases or terms associated with short term lets where they are ostensibly advertising services relating to lettings in the private rented sector, or vice versa.
(Source: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/policy-guidance-short-term-lettings-advertising.pdf)
To add your voice and effect change, please sign the petition to send a message to Edinburgh Council and Lothian Buses.
These ads are also undermining the Edinburgh Council's City Housing Strategy.
More people are becoming homeless because they simply cannot afford to pay the rent or mortgage. To highlight how unaffordable housing and in-work poverty is in Edinburgh, according to Council figures, 30% of people in temporary accommodation are working. This is utterly and immensely ridiculous.
Yet we have Lothian Buses, a public-run transport infrastructure, promoting companies like Nestify who are actively exacerbating the housing crisis in Edinburgh, not to mention, the ad is an immense insult to tenants living in one of the least affordable places in the UK, with many struggling to afford to rent a home – never mind buy – and who live in fear of being kicked out at short notice to make way for short term lets.
Questions need to be asked regarding why a public-owned transport company in Edinburgh is willing to promote these kinds of ads and not local organisations with the same ambitions as Edinburgh Council to fix the housing crisis?
Every day millions of people see these ads and Edinburgh Council, as the largest parent of Lothian Buses (91% ownership), need to urgently review Lothian Buses’ advertisement policy.
There is precedent, a successful campaign in London run by Generation Rent who also worked together with Transport for London, which resulted in new guidelines being recently announced, banning all short term let adverts: (https://www.citymetric.com/politics/transport-london-has-banned-short-term-letting-ads-4785).
Transport for London's new policy, which Edinburgh Buses should consider adopting, states that any adverts seen to do the following would be banned from the network:
* Imply that removing properties from the private rental market for other rental purposes, such as short term lets to tourists, can be financially or materially advantageous to property owners;
* Promote companies or services which appear to rely on property owners removing their properties from the private rented sector;
* Appear to conflate short term lets with lettings in the private rented sector – the type of lettings the advert is promoting should be unambiguous;
* Advertise services for both types of lettings;
* Use phrases or terms associated with short term lets where they are ostensibly advertising services relating to lettings in the private rented sector, or vice versa.
(Source: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/policy-guidance-short-term-lettings-advertising.pdf)
To add your voice and effect change, please sign the petition to send a message to Edinburgh Council and Lothian Buses.
