David Ward – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ward on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to better protect the rights of private sector tenants from irresponsible landlords.

Kris Hopkins

The Government is committed to a better private rented sector that offers security, stability and decency. We are already changing the law to require all letting agents to join Government approved redress schemes which will allow tenants to seek compensation where they are the victims of bad practice, such as being charged hidden fees.

To encourage greater understanding of tenants’ rights, we will shortly publish a new How to Rent guide for tenants. We are also developing a model tenancy agreement to help tenants achieve greater security of tenure when needed, and a code of practice on property management.

The Government has provided £6.7 million to a number of local authorities to help them tackle rogue landlord activity.

We are also encouraging local authorities to use their existing powers to improve standards. They already have wide powers to tackle rogue landlord activity and poor property conditions and to encourage their use.

Through the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 the current £5,000 cap on fines for certain housing and planning offences will be removed and rogue landlords will be liable to potentially unlimited fines. Where the fine is currently capped at less than £5,000, the maximum fine will be quadrupled

Finally, we published a discussion document on 24 February, inviting views on how property conditions in the private rented sector could be improved. Closing date for comments was 28 March. We are now considering the proposals we have received. We will announce the outcome of our review in the summer.