Changes to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill could help protect vulnerable tenants in the private rented sector (PRS), according to the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH).
Proposed amendments tabled by Baroness Hayter are due to be discussed in the House of Lords this afternoon (16 January). They seek to extend the Estate Agency Act 1979 to letting and managing agents, with the aim of providing a higher level of redress for private rented sector tenants and landlords.
CIH director of policy and practice Gavin Smart said: “The private rented sector accounts for around 4.8 million of the 21.5 million households in England, up from 3.4 million in 2005, so it’s important that the sector is appropriately regulated to protect the increasing numbers of people living in it. Many prospective tenants and indeed smaller landlords use letting agents as a route to access private rental housing in their area. But the current regulatory arrangements for letting agents fall short of customer expectations, with recent analysis showing nearly 40% of letting agents are not part of a regulatory regime offered by professional bodies.