Regulation of private renting

The Department is planning to introduce reforms to the private rented sector and our recommendations are aimed at supporting this process. The Department should do the following: a) Define an overall vision and strategy for the regulation of private renting. This should include consideration of how the sector should be regulated and how it is affected by other policy areas.

e) Do more to identify and promote good practice among local authorities and support them to use it. To achieve this, the Department should work to understand the barriers local authorities face in regulating, and evaluate which tools are most effective in which circumstances. It should also ensure it has enough capacity to achieve this, as well as to provide an appropriate level of continued support.

f) Review whether current local authority enforcement powers are adequate. It should engage with stakeholders, particularly local authorities, to identify which powers and tools are or would be most helpful to local regulation, where they should be placed and how awareness of their use could be improved. This should include consideration of the different tools required to support landlords who want to comply as well as enforcing against those who do not.

g) Review whether current dispute resolution arrangements for private renters are appropriate. It should consider in particular whether the arrangements are accessible for all tenants, provide appropriate redress when things go wrong and give the Department sufficient insight into emerging issues.

h) Improve its understanding of differential outcomes and experiences among private renters and use this to inform how support and intervention are targeted on those most in need. It should continue to develop its work to understand different types of tenants and use this understanding to design its regulatory approach.