It was announced yesterday that the Government have scrapped plans to introduce more regulations and red tape for landlords and letting agents.

The Government had previously planned to increase regulations on the private rental sector which included a National Register of Landlords, regulation of letting and managing agents and compulsory written tenancy agreements. However, housing minister Grant Shapps has announced that the regulations proposed by the Labour Government will be scrapped as the sector is already governed by a well-established legal framework.

Grant Shapps said, “With the vast majority of England’s three million private tenants happy with the service they receive, I am satisfied that the current system strikes the right balance between the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords.

“So today I make a promise to good landlords across the country: the Government has no plans to create any burdensome red tape and bureaucracy, so you are able to continue providing a service to your tenants. But for the bad landlords, I am putting councils on alert to use a range of powers already at their disposal to make sure tenants are properly protected.”

Much of the private rental sector has welcomed the announcement this week, however The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) are worried that improvements in the standards of the private rented sector may be affected.

Ian Potter, ARLA’s operations manager said, “We are extremely disappointed with the housing minister’s decision to scrap the previous Government’s plans for the regulation of letting agents.

“This move risks seriously hampering the improvement of standards in the private rented sector, the sector’s reputation, and the fundamental role it plays in the wider housing market as well as failing to protect the consumer who has nowhere to go when there is service failure or fraud.

“A minimum requirement must surely be consumer redress and protection of all funds taken from the public not just tenants’ deposits.

“Currently, any person or organisation can become a letting agent. Until that is changed via national regulation, unprofessional, unqualified and unethical operators will continue to exist, to the detriment and expense of consumers and the market as a whole.”

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