30th
Oct 2013
This Bill, seeks to establish a mandatory national register of private landlords; to introduce regulation of private sector letting agents and managing agents; to establish a body to administer the national register and to monitor compliance with regulations applying to letting agents and managing agents; to require all tenancy agreements entered into with private landlords to take the form of written agreements; and for connected purposes.
KEY POINTS - SummarY of Private Landlords and Letting and Managing Agents(Regulation) Bill
1 Mandatory national register of private landlords
- (1) There shall be established a mandatory national register of private sector residential landlords (“the Register).
- (2) A duty shall be placed on all private sector residential landlords to sign up to the Register, and to pay an annual registration fee and provide all the information prescribed in regulations by the Secretary of State as required in the Register.
- (3) Private sector residential landlords who (a) do not sign up to the Register, or (b) falsify information or provide incorrect information in the Register, will be liable to the penalties specified in section 9.
2 Regulation of private sector letting agents and managing agents
- Basically any party providing a management / letting service for monies will be subject to mandatory compliance
3 Transparency of fees of private sector letting agents and managing agents
(1) There shall be a requirement for letting and management agents to provide information on fees in a standardised and comparable format in all material for both prospective tenants and landlords. Landlord and tenant fees should be displayed alongside each other together with the purpose of each charge.
(2) In subsection (1) “in all material” includes on the agent's website, within property search website adverts alongside the rental asking price and in all paperwork.
4 Requirement for written tenancy agreements
It shall be a requirement for all persons newly entering into or renewing a private sector residential tenancy, be it undertaken directly or through a third party, to do so in the form of a written tenancy agreement between tenant and landlord.
5 Designation of selective licensing schemes
In section 80 of the Housing Act 2004 (designation of selective licensing areas)—
(a) leave out subsection (3)(a) and substitute “that where selective licensing would improve the local environment through improved property management and provide significantly more good quality properties that are professionally managed for those privately renting, and”;
(b) leave out subsection (6)(a) and substitute “that where selective licensing would reduce anti-social behaviour in that area;”.
- PIMS Comment - This is very naughty - what these revisions really means is I am the council I don't have to justify why but I have now decided that if you want to rent out ANY property in my Borough I can charge you a fee if I so wish- Originally the 2004 Housing Act stated the Council could apply to the Secretary of State and request they introduce licencing to improve the area. This was then ratified to say Council could introduce licencing if typically an area of low demand without permision from the Secretary of State [self regulation] , this has been further diluted to "improved property management "
Debate on the bill was adjourned and will be resumed on November 1st.
The Bill started its second reading on the 25 October 2013. The debate was adjourned and the Bill is expected to resume its second reading on 1 November 2013. The Bill was presented to Parliament through the ballot procedure on 19 June 2013. This is known as the first reading and there was no debate on the Bill at this stage.
This Bill is a Private Member’s Bill. These are often not printed until close to the second reading debate. If the text is not yet available here and you wish to know more about this bill please contact its sponsor, Sir Alan Meale
News Archive »