Landlords and tenants alike will welcome the news that the Government is considering drawing up an official charter of requirements that will govern the private rented housing sector for the years to come.
Grant Shapps, the communities minister, has long championed the private housing sector and believes the expected growth of private accommodation will benefit from a more robust regulatory scheme. It will certainly suit professional landlords who are well accustomed to the paperwork and regulations that are inherent with providing a competent service to tenants. However, the so called accidental landlords who are renting their properties out because they can’t sell them or afford to live in them may find it more difficult to comply. As well as demanding appropriate landlord insurance the new charter may require more exacting standards, and it may certainly compromise the home owner who lets part of his home out to a lodger.
In Parliament earlier this week MP for Torbay, Adrian Saunders, asked Mr Shapps: “One way of reducing the regulatory burden on landlords but also improving the safety and security for tenants, would be to provide a central, standardised document, containing all landlord and tenant responsibilities from fire safety to anti-social behaviour. The planning system has benefited from a process of simplification. Can you do likewise with the private rented housing sector?”
Mr Shapps answered in the affirmative saying he believed such a scheme would benefit both sides of a private rental agreement and that he would look into the possibilities of making such a scheme reality. He said: “It sounds like it might be something comparative to a template lease and is something worth further consideration.”