Independent consultant #ukhousing, whisky coinnoisseur, @NorwichCityFC fan & proud father of two mischievous children.
Bristol, England
Joined March 2013
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On 13 October 2024 with friends including @luke_cross1 & @petegladwell I'm running @RoyalParksHalf to raise funding and awareness for @BrainTumourOrg
If you want to sponsor us or find out more please click -
justgiving.com/page/luke-cro…
Pls RT.
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
Tenants used to be able to challenge rent rises. If they succeeded, the landlords could evict them. This obviously meant that the rulings weren’t binding and couldn’t set rents below the market rate.
Now you can’t evict the tenant, no matter how low the tribunal sets the rent. And tribunals can reduce the rents agreed to at the start of the tenancy, not just rent increases at the end of a fixed term.
This is *obviously* rent control by anyone’s definition of the term. This is what they wanted to happen!
I see the nonsense “rent controls are back” takes keep coming.
There is no rent control in England.
The legal right to challenge rent increases at tribunal was introduced by the Thatcher Government in its 1988 Housing Act.
It was rarely used in practice only because it inevitably resulted in a landlord serving a Section 21 notice.
Labour’s Renters’ Rights Act abolished Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and renters are now rightly empowered to challenge unfair or above-market rent increases.
In both the recent cases that have been the cause of so much debate, the tribunal has been operating exactly as it should – determining that the landlords in question were charging rents that simply did not reflect local market values for comparable properties.
Great to be out in Devizes this morning with @yourwiltshire campaigning to get Laura Ayling elected to the Town Council. Thanks to my son for taking the picture and delivering so many leaflets.
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
Quick thoughts on today's fiscal devolution roadmap, building off our four tests:
1. This is the end of the beginning for fiscal devolution. Government now accepts fiscal centralisation is a national economic problem - and over the longer term there is more fiscal devo to come
Centre for Cities set out four tests for the fiscal devolution roadmap earlier this week.
We’re interested in fiscal devolution first and foremost as a means by which to unlock economic growth. So how does the roadmap look through that lens?
@AntBreach with a quick take on "the end of the beginning" for fiscal devolution.
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
BREAKING: after Healey’s Budget today, MoD spending will be £1bn per year lower than in the Defence Investment Plan he resigned over👇
Big row potentially brewing on defence…
Tories alleging that Healey - the man of principle who quit over DIP - might actually be *cutting* defence spending
In the next two financial years, the budget for the MOD will be £1bn a year less than Rachel Reeves planned when the DIP was published in June.
The total departmental spending can be calculated from the Budget Red Book pages 145-147. When compared to the DIP settlement, the Tories claim it shows that Labour are cutting £1bn a year from the MOD budget for the next two years.
Why? It appears that they are forecast to spend less than expected on pensions. Rather than the MOD being allowed to reuse this Resource Department Expenditure Limit, the Treasury has kept it
Cartlidge: “This is a complete dereliction of duty from the Chancellor”
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
Arguing that the private sector is what drives growth isn't a matter of ideology. It's a matter of maths. As beautifully illustrated by this story in the Mirror today. (1/?)
"I worry that Burnham has yet to grasp quite how serious the job he has taken on really is. The public should be worried too." Well said @KemiBadenoch - me too! thetimes.com/comment/columni…
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
Confirmation from @benrileysmith in today’s Sunday Times that Chancellor John Healey will top up the National Wealth Fund (NWF) & use this to divert extra cash to Defence.
This is the policy I suggested last December when Healey was Defence Secretary, as part of our plan for a Sovereign Defence Fund. We explicitly suggested ring-fencing £11bn in the NWF for defence. But…
Using the NWF in our plan was specifically to fire up private sector investment & boost the industrial base - esp supporting start ups & drone tech. Above all, it’s just one part of our fully funded plan to get to 3% - not a substitute for one.
The NWF cannot fund training & troops; day to day procurement; forces’ housing; stockpiles. Only cutting day to day spending like welfare can properly fund those priorities. So I sincerely hope this will be part of a plan for 3% by 2030 in Wednesday’s Budget - nothing less will suffice from a Chancellor who resigned from government demanding just that.
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
A friend of mine had to do a 15 minute interview about his job, income, previous rental history, etc, in order to *view* a flat. Luckily for him, he has a well-paid job, has lived in England all his life, and an impeccable rental history. I feel bad for people who don't.
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
It’s time for @AndyBurnham to do the right thing, and Axe the Family Farm Tax. 🚜
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
Who should run the countryside: the people you elect or agencies nobody voted for?
Natural England and the Environment Agency answer to no minister. Homes are blocked and farmers are buried in red tape.
Conservatives will scrap them.
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
Brilliant to stand with our veterans alongside @KemiBadenoch in Parliament Square against the Government’s Northern Ireland Troubles Bill. With two days of debate ahead of us, we will keep opposing Labour’s damaging lawfare. We will defend those who defended us.
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
YouGov - Sky - Times voting intention
LAB 24%(-3)
CON 23%(+3)
RefUK 21%(-1)
LDEM 12%(+1)
GRN 11%(nc)
Oct 11-12
Pollster note: The changes are within the margin of error, so it's difficult to distinguish signal from noise, but I suspect there is some degree of "conference bounce" there, with the Tories getting a boost from their coverage, and Labour declining again as the temporary impact of their own conference fades.
It may well be a temporary Tory boost, but for the record it means this is the first time that we have had Reform back in third place since 2024 (it’s technically the first time since early 2024 – but we didn’t poll between the election and January 2025 while we were reviewing methods, so we don’t know exactly when Reform overtook the Tories).
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
I am optimistic because The Conservatives have learnt from our mistakes. We are going the right way.
We are ready to fight for our values. Ready to win the argument. Ready to govern.
Ready to get Britain working again.
Thank you #CPC26.
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
NEW: The Birmingham tapestry merch is finally on sale at #CPC26 from 9am. Mugs £15, tote bags featuring “Healey’s Comet”, having arrived yesterday lunchtime and been missing in building. Tea towels haven’t made it here in time, but will be sold online with different sections of the tapestry….
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
The strongest section of Kemi Badenoch's speech so far:
"To those who say “unite the right”... we are not uniting with THAT. I don’t want to live in a country run by people who threaten journalists, call veterans traitors and debate whether my mixed-race children are English.
"I don’t want to explain to my son, when we’re watching our brilliant England team play football, that some people don’t think our black players are English.
"I remember back in the day when Ian Wright and John Barnes were playing - nobody was questioning whether they were English. We certainly didn’t have sitting MPs questioning whether they were English.
"We must not let these people take us backwards. That is not the country we are. I don’t know whether you’ve noticed, but I am black. I am British. I’m proud of my country, I’m proud of our history."
Jamie Ratcliff retweeted
Inheritance Tax punishes people for working hard, saving, and leaving something for their children.
That’s why we Conservatives are taking the first step towards abolishing it completely.
We will scrap Inheritance Tax completely on the family home and raise the threshold for other assets to £1 million for a couple.
We are on the side of people who work hard.
