09/03/2017

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:00:12. > :00:18.Research by the BBC has found that people on housing benefit

:00:19. > :00:22.are being refused access to rental properties in London.

:00:23. > :00:26.One lettings website found that more than 99% of rentals in the capital

:00:27. > :00:29.are not available to people receiving housing benefit.

:00:30. > :00:31.In fact, landlords were four times more likely to

:00:32. > :00:43.Competition for rental properties and rooms in London is fierce.

:00:44. > :00:46.Potential tenants can search on websites for the best fit,

:00:47. > :00:49.but there's one way to almost guaranteed they won't get called

:00:50. > :01:07.A BBC investigation has found most adverts exclude tenants who declare

:01:08. > :01:11.Danny is one of those who has struggled to find

:01:12. > :01:16.He only secured this one with the help of a homeless charity.

:01:17. > :01:21.As soon as you mention that you have to begin on housing benefit,

:01:22. > :01:28.or DSS as they sort of call it, you just get no, straightaway.

:01:29. > :01:33.The BBC spoke to one woman, who told us she didn't

:01:34. > :01:37.disclose her status to stand a better chance of getting a place.

:01:38. > :01:41.Of over 5500 properties open for rent in London,

:01:42. > :01:44.just 43 were open to housing benefit claimants.

:01:45. > :01:52.Almost four times that amount were happy to accept people with pets.

:01:53. > :01:55.The National Landlords Association says their members have no choice

:01:56. > :01:58.and must protect themselves against the risks posed if people

:01:59. > :02:04.Housing benefit levels have not kept up with rent levels.

:02:05. > :02:07.That means any tenant who relies on housing benefit levels is looking

:02:08. > :02:10.at potentially a shortfall which they will have to fill

:02:11. > :02:14.The chances are, there's less of those available.

:02:15. > :02:17.Landlords don't want to let to a tenant who they know is more

:02:18. > :02:24.There are nearly 800,000 housing benefit claimants in London.

:02:25. > :02:27.Sparerooms.co.uk says it is one of the only sites who gives people

:02:28. > :02:31.the tools to quickly find properties that are available

:02:32. > :02:35.The charity Shelter has called for more to be done

:02:36. > :02:41.It says the responsibility lies at the government's door.

:02:42. > :02:44.Landlords need reassurance that the housing benefit scheme

:02:45. > :02:47.is going to work for them and for tenants and that does mean

:02:48. > :02:49.the government has to stop cutting housing benefit.

:02:50. > :02:53.But landlords do need to make sure they are looking at tenants

:02:54. > :02:55.on a case-by-case basis, because some people

:02:56. > :03:00.They may be working and have a top up.

:03:01. > :03:07.The government says under universal credit, housing costs are paid

:03:08. > :03:10.directly to claimants, not landlords, guarding

:03:11. > :03:16.What makes "no DSS" different from when they said "no dogs,

:03:17. > :03:24.For now, landlords in England are legally able to say no

:03:25. > :03:28.He's fallen into rent arrears and faces the uphill battle

:03:29. > :03:37.of finding a property all over again.

:03:38. > :03:40.Surrey County Council claims that a company has carried out

:03:41. > :03:42.unauthorised drilling on green belt land.

:03:43. > :03:45.Angus Energy has drilled a new side well at an existing

:03:46. > :03:50.The council says it's "deeply disappointed"

:03:51. > :03:55.Angus Energy, which announced last week that new reserves of oil

:03:56. > :03:57.were found at the site, denies the claims.

:03:58. > :04:05.Convoys of trucks carrying heavy equipment for the Brockham oil site

:04:06. > :04:10.Some activists didn't give them a warm welcome.

:04:11. > :04:17.An activist filmed this allegedly when they company had no permission

:04:18. > :04:23.Angus Energy said this was maintenance, called a work over.

:04:24. > :04:26.The council granted permission and sent officials

:04:27. > :04:31.They were assured it was repair work.

:04:32. > :04:34.It now appears that another well was being drilled.

:04:35. > :04:36.The council now says this was unauthorised and they only

:04:37. > :04:40.found out last week, when it appeared on the internet.

:04:41. > :04:44.They say the company then admitted to drilling a new sidetrack well.

:04:45. > :04:48.A council spokesman said they had been misled.

:04:49. > :05:03.We met one local councillor, who has been trying for months

:05:04. > :05:06.to find out exactly what's been going on at the site.

:05:07. > :05:09.It removes from me all faith in the way these companies operate.

:05:10. > :05:13.If we don't know what they are doing or how they are going about it,

:05:14. > :05:18.how can we measure whether it is done properly?

:05:19. > :05:39.However, Surrey County Council says this meeting has yet to take place.

:05:40. > :05:42.Most of those we spoke to in Brockham were relaxed

:05:43. > :05:51.We asked some people at a lunchtime pilates class what they thought now.

:05:52. > :05:55.I think it is being monitored quite well.

:05:56. > :05:59.If anyone has concerns, they could ask questions.

:06:00. > :06:01.Everyone has to abide by planning rules, certainly

:06:02. > :06:09.The potential oil in the Weald Basin could be vital to the UK's

:06:10. > :06:16.However, the conduct of one of the companies drilling has been

:06:17. > :06:21.Staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital have been praised

:06:22. > :06:25.for reacting quickly, after a couple tried

:06:26. > :06:29.The couple claimed their premature baby had been transferred

:06:30. > :06:35.But when checks showed this was not the case, police were called.

:06:36. > :06:38.The pair were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to abduct a child

:06:39. > :06:47.The capital's first Low Emission Bus Zone has been launched,

:06:48. > :06:50.meaning only cleaner buses can run on certain polluted roads.

:06:51. > :06:54.The Mayor says he needs more help from central government to clean up

:06:55. > :07:00.As part of our series Toxic London, our environment correspondent

:07:01. > :07:08.The mayor has made tackling pollution one of its priorities.

:07:09. > :07:11.Now only the cleanest buses will run here on the polluted

:07:12. > :07:18.11 more low emission bus zones will follow by 2020.

:07:19. > :07:23.It is hoped they will reduce pollution on those routes by 80%.

:07:24. > :07:25.Won't it just move the dirty buses elsewhere?

:07:26. > :07:30.No, what we're doing is phasing out the diesel in buses across London.

:07:31. > :07:33.From next year we'll only be buying either hybrid or zero emission

:07:34. > :07:44.We've started addressing those parts of London which have the worst air,

:07:45. > :07:46.which is why Putney goes first, the first-ever low

:07:47. > :07:50.We'll do the other parts of London, once we've brought

:07:51. > :07:54.Across London, when it comes to pollution, the mood is changing.

:07:55. > :07:57.This woman and her children have to endure busy toxic

:07:58. > :08:04.I really welcome Sadiq Khan's proposals.

:08:05. > :08:10.I think he wants to do something about it.

:08:11. > :08:18.I think he needs to do things quickly, much more quickly,

:08:19. > :08:20.and he needs support from central government as well.

:08:21. > :08:24.In the Home Counties and the suburbs, people

:08:25. > :08:28.This is the beautiful village of Sonning in Berkshire,

:08:29. > :08:31.where the Prime Minister Theresa May lives.

:08:32. > :08:37.Even here traffic and pollution is a concern.

:08:38. > :08:41.Sean Harris lives here and as it's one of the main routes into Reading,

:08:42. > :08:51.I can be stuck in traffic for half an hour and I can see my house

:08:52. > :09:00.What about air pollution, does that worry you, here?

:09:01. > :09:06.I would imagine the amount of car engine spewing out

:09:07. > :09:11.as they are going over that bridge would be quite bad.

:09:12. > :09:14.This week, we saw the human cost of pollution in the asthma ward

:09:15. > :09:17.of the Brompton and Harefield Hospital.

:09:18. > :09:21.For children here, lung growth is being affected by pollution.

:09:22. > :09:26.The mayor has plans for other schemes but he says he needs help.

:09:27. > :09:28.I'm saying to the government it can't be right that

:09:29. > :09:30.you are introducing a national diesel scrappage fund,

:09:31. > :09:33.it can't be right you are not talking about clean air act

:09:34. > :09:39.I'm doing all I can, but you've got to do much, much more.

:09:40. > :09:42.Tackling pollution is a huge challenge.

:09:43. > :09:45.The question now is what all levels of government will do to find

:09:46. > :10:04.Let's find out what the weather's up to with Stav Danaos.

:10:05. > :10:09.Has spring arrives? It was glorious today. We saw 17

:10:10. > :10:14.Celsius in London. There was a cool breeze around but still, 17 Celsius

:10:15. > :10:17.with some sunshine is pretty lovely. This evening and overnight it will

:10:18. > :10:20.turn a bit cloudier. Temperatures will fall a little bit. The baggage

:10:21. > :10:27.of cloud stopping them from falling below around 6-7. Tomorrow, quite a

:10:28. > :10:31.lot of cloud. It should stay dry for the most part. Early in the morning,

:10:32. > :10:34.a bit of mist around, a bit of hazy brightness. Towards the afternoon,

:10:35. > :10:39.thick cloud pushing for the West. That will affect our temperatures,

:10:40. > :10:43.not quite as warm, with a high of 13 Althea. High pressure is dominating

:10:44. > :10:49.the south-east's weather as we had through the week. Saturday starts

:10:50. > :10:53.off fairly cloudy, a bit of mist around. Holes will break through the

:10:54. > :10:58.cloud and we'll have sunshine. We could see temperatures higher than

:10:59. > :11:01.15, maybe 16-17. Saturday a fine day. On Sunday, cloudier, maybe

:11:02. > :11:12.spots of rain. Good evening, in the spring sunshine

:11:13. > :11:16.we saw temperatures as high as 17.5 Celsius. Not as warm or Sonning on

:11:17. > :11:20.Friday. Still a lot of dry, settled weather in the forecast for the next

:11:21. > :11:24.few days. This was the sunset captured by one of our Weather

:11:25. > :11:28.Watchers. Clear skies there. We have had increasing amounts of cloud

:11:29. > :11:29.moving in from the West. Through the remainder of tonight we will

:11:30. > :11:30.continue to