Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2014, to Question 208968, which tenant groups his Department asked the industry to seek the views of in creating a code of practice for the management of residential property; and what steps he took to ensure that the views sought were representative of all tenant groups.

The Government asked industry to develop the code of practice for the management of residential property to promote consistent and high standards of property management. Ensuring that landlords and letting agents are aware of their responsibilities can only be of benefit to all tenants. Industry held a public consultation on the code of practice from 2 to 30 April and a number of groups including Shelter, all three Property Ombudsmen and the Electrical Safety First formally responded.

The code of practice has been welcomed by the sector and I am confident that the code, the how to rent guide and the model tenancy agreement will all improve standards and increase the satisfaction of tenants living in the private rented sector.