Forty-Ninth Report - Regulation of private renting

Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee HC 996 13 April 2022
Report Status Government responded
Conclusions & Recommendations 26 items (15 recs)
Source View on Parliament website
Government Response (AI assessment · 26 of 26 classified)
Accepted 11
Acknowledged 7
Not Addressed 3
Rejected 5
Clear

Recommendations

10 results
3 Accepted
The Department is not doing enough to support local authorities to regulate effectively.
Recommendation
The Department is not doing enough to support local authorities to regulate effectively. The dozens of legislative powers used by local authorities are complex and spread across multiple enforcement bodies, creating a fragmented and disempowered regulatory system. Local authorities say … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government will run pilot schemes, strengthen LAs' ability to tackle criminal landlords, explore bolstering national oversight of LAs' enforcement, seek to introduce a national framework for setting fines, and continue to fund the National Trading Standards Estates and Lettings Agency Team.
HM Treasury
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6 Accepted
The Department’s forthcoming White Paper offers an opportunity for significant improvement to the private rented...
Recommendation
The Department’s forthcoming White Paper offers an opportunity for significant improvement to the private rented sector. In the past ten years, the Department has made several positive legislative changes in the private rented sector, such as providing tenants with protection … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to fully understand the cumulative impact of proposed changes on tenants, landlords, and the housing market, working with other departments and completing an impact assessment by Spring 2023, as well as developing its approach to data collection to monitor the impact of reforms.
HM Treasury
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8 Accepted
The Department has introduced various pieces of legislation which give local authorities a range of...
Recommendation
The Department has introduced various pieces of legislation which give local authorities a range of tools and powers to enforce compliance in the private rented sector, such as civil penalties and banning orders.19 However, over time this has resulted in … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government will run pilot schemes trialling improvements to enforcement of existing standards, strengthen LAs’ ability to tackle criminal landlords, bolster national oversight of LAs’ enforcement by requiring them to report on their enforcement activity, and explore seeking to introduce a national framework for setting fines.
HM Treasury
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9 Accepted
The Department therefore has an important role to play in using its national perspective to...
Recommendation
The Department therefore has an important role to play in using its national perspective to identify and disseminate good practice among local authorities and help them regulate effectively.22 While it has provided some grant funding for project work (£6.7 million … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government will run pilot schemes, strengthen LAs' ability to tackle criminal landlords, explore bolstering national oversight of LAs' enforcement, seek to introduce a national framework for setting fines, and continue to fund the National Trading Standards Estates and Lettings Agency Team.
HM Treasury
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10 Accepted
The Department does not have a good enough understanding of what regulatory approaches work at...
Recommendation
The Department does not have a good enough understanding of what regulatory approaches work at local level to help local authorities ensure that landlords comply with their obligations. It has limited data on what tools and approaches are even used … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government will run pilot schemes, strengthen LAs' ability to tackle criminal landlords, explore bolstering national oversight of LAs' enforcement, seek to introduce a national framework for setting fines, and continue to fund the National Trading Standards Estates and Lettings Agency Team.
HM Treasury
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11 Accepted
The Department also does not know in detail what challenges local authorities are facing, and...
Recommendation
The Department also does not know in detail what challenges local authorities are facing, and lacks an early warning system to identify where local regulation is failing private renters. It does not collect data, for example, on the number of … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government will run pilot schemes, strengthen LAs' ability to tackle criminal landlords, explore bolstering national oversight of LAs' enforcement, seek to introduce a national framework for setting fines, and continue to fund the National Trading Standards Estates and Lettings Agency Team.
HM Treasury
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16 Accepted
Tenants have a legal right to a safe and secure home that is free from...
Recommendation
Tenants have a legal right to a safe and secure home that is free from serious health hazards. However, they face significant barriers to realising this right, and many experience significant issues which can result, for example, in serious illness, … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government will introduce a property portal requiring all private landlords to join, giving private tenants a free redress service, and will learn from a recent mediation pilot to improve alternative dispute resolution.
HM Treasury
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17 Accepted
The current system for renters to resolve problems relies on them being aware of, and...
Recommendation
The current system for renters to resolve problems relies on them being aware of, and enforcing, their own rights. However, tenants often do not know how to complain or do not have the confidence to do so. Charities such as … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to improve renters’ ability to exercise their rights by bringing forward a landmark Renters Reform Bill, introducing a new property portal that all landlords will be required to join, and learn from the recent mediation pilot.
HM Treasury
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18 Accepted
The complaints and redress mechanisms available to renters are also limited and complex.
Recommendation
The complaints and redress mechanisms available to renters are also limited and complex. While there are mandatory redress schemes for social housing and for letting agency work, these are voluntary for private landlords and so most tenants must use the … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government will introduce a property portal requiring all private landlords to join, giving private tenants a free redress service, and will learn from a recent mediation pilot to improve alternative dispute resolution.
HM Treasury
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23 Accepted
Many issues facing both landlords and tenants relate to other policy areas, such as housing...
Recommendation
Many issues facing both landlords and tenants relate to other policy areas, such as housing benefits, tax laws and courts systems. There is therefore a need for cross-government working and data-sharing to understand the wider impacts of planned legislative changes … Read more
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to fully understand the cumulative impact of proposed changes on tenants, landlords, and the housing market, working with other departments and completing an impact assessment by Spring 2023, as well as developing its approach to data collection to monitor the impact of reforms.
HM Treasury
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19 Conclusion Accepted
The Department told us that as part of its reform agenda, it plans to end Section 21 work and introduce a mandatory redress scheme for landlords, with which it intends to empower tenants and improve landlord compliance.42 However, the Department is yet to assess the success of its existing redress …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to improve renters’ ability to exercise their rights by bringing forward a landmark Renters Reform Bill, introducing a new property portal that all landlords will be required to join, and learn from the recent mediation pilot.
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