Portcullis
This discussion document considers what more can be done and how best to tackle rogue landlords, without negatively impacting on the good ones.
The government announced a package of measures on 16 October 2013 to help ensure that tenants get a good deal when they rent a home. The measures included a commitment to undertake a review into property conditions in the private rented sector.
The discussion document is the first stage of the review, it sets out the issues that the review will cover and invites comments by 21 March 2014.
The Government Legislation Plan aims to:
- avoid hidden fees from unscrupulous letting agents
- get proper protection from rogue landlords
- can request long-term rental deals that cut costs and provide stability for their family
- feel confident to demand better standards and management of their property by landlords
The Legislation which is being prepared will:
- Publish a new code of practice setting standards for the management of property in the private rented sector, with a view to making it statutory to provide greater confidence for tenants in what they can expect.
- Publish a tenant’s charter to help tenants understand what they should expect from their rental deal, and how they can take action if they are the victim of hidden fees or poor standards of accommodation.
- Legislate a new tenancy agreement, which landlords can use to offer longer tenancies of 3 years or more, which will, provide extra security and stability for families.
- Produce extra guidance for local councils on how to protect tenants from illegal eviction, how to push for harsher penalties before magistrates for housing offences where these have a real impact on peoples’ lives, and to plan for new private rented developments in the future, including on their own land.
- A mortgage lenders summit will consider how lenders can make it easier for landlords to offer longer tenancies that benefit families.
- The government will review the process by which tenants can raise concerns about the standard of their private rented property and the response they should expect from their council in enforcing standards of safety and hygiene
- The review will also consider requiring landlords to repay rent where a property is found to have serious hazards. This could include allowing councils to recoup housing benefit so that taxpayers’ money is not used to support landlords who provide sub-standard property.
