Landlord national register proposed
Landlords will need to join a national register under new proposals to regulate the property rental market from the government.
The government said the vast majority of landlords are well-intentioned, but a minority are "exploiting the most vulnerable and allowing anti-social behaviour to take place in neighbourhoods," the Department for Communities and Local Government said in its report.
A national register, based on a recommendation from the Rugg Review of the rented sector, will help local authorities identify and tackle bad landlords while contributing to the 'professionalisation' of the industry, the department added.
It is hoped the measures will protect tenants from poor conditions and from finding themselves suddenly homeless when their landlord has failed to repay the mortgage.
Landlords or their agents would register annually and pay a small fee to cover administration costs.
But new landlords would receive a 'starter pack' in return, with standard forms (such as the appropriate form for possession proceedings and standard tenancy agreements) and could receive updates on any changes in regulations.
Industry groups were broadly supportive of the proposals.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) director general, Michael Coogan, said: "Everyone sympathises with the position of good tenants who were unaware their landlord was not paying the mortgage.
"In most cases, tenants have a recognised tenancy because their landlord has a buy-to-let mortgage, and these tenants are protected.
"For the minority of tenants whose landlords should never have been renting out the property at all, we look forward to working with government towards a resolution that appropriately balances the outcomes for lender, borrower and tenant."
Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) director of external affairs, Gillian Charlesworth, added: "Registration of landlords will help people find out if their landlord has been keeping up with basic repairs and is protecting tenant deposits.
But there are concerns some landlords will still fall through the gaps.
Ms Charlesworth added: "Without effective enforcement it is possible that only respectable landlords with a good track record will sign up to a registration scheme while the worst landlords will find a way of avoiding it."
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