Asked by: Mark Prisk (Conservative - Hertford and Stortford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the register of landlords in Scotland in reducing bad practice.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Coalition Government supports a bigger and better private rented sector and is keen to minimise the burden of regulation on the vast majority of good landlords. Excessive red tape would just force up rents and reduce choice and supply for tenants.
We believe that imposing a national register of landlords would be disproportionate and unfairly penalise good landlords who are fully compliant with their obligations. It would cost an estimated £40 million a year – costs which ultimately would be passed on to tenants in higher rents.
As an alternative to such regulation, we support the use of voluntary accreditation by local authorities coupled with strong enforcement action to crack down on the small minority of rogue landlords who rent out overcrowded and dilapidated property. Voluntary accreditation helps drive up standards and increase levels of professionalism amongst landlords.
We have not formally assessed Scotland's scheme, but I note that an answer to a Parliamentary Question in the Scottish Parliament in January 2013 noted that since the scheme was introduced in 2006, it had cost landlords £11 million in fees and a further £5 million in costs to taxpayers, but only 40 landlords had been refused in total over that period out of almost 200,000 landlord registrations. This suggests that such state regulation had not been effective at tackling rogue landlords despite significant costs imposed on the whole rented sector.
Asked by: Mark Prisk (Conservative - Hertford and Stortford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when the new Model Tenancy Agreement will be published.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
We plan to publish the Model Tenancy Agreement later in the summer.
Asked by: Mark Prisk (Conservative - Hertford and Stortford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department intends to publish the results of the review of residential property conditions.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
DCLG published a discussion document earlier this year, which invited views on what more could be done to improve property conditions in the private rented sector and tackle rogue landlords. Responses are now being considered and we will publish our response along with a summary of the views submitted later this summer.
Asked by: Mark Prisk (Conservative - Hertford and Stortford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will publish a code of practice for the management of residential property.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
We have asked the industry to come together and develop a code of practice for both the management of residential property and the process of letting property. The Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is leading the development of the Code which we expect to be published in the summer.
Asked by: Mark Prisk (Conservative - Hertford and Stortford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in which month the redress arrangements concerning letting and managing agents will commence.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Redress Schemes for Lettings Agency Work and Property Management Work (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc) (England) Order was laid in Parliament on 23 June. Subject to approval of that Order by both Houses of Parliament, the requirement for letting agents and property managers in England to belong to an approved redress scheme will come into force on 1 October 2014.