MPs support bill to regulate private rented sector

Jeremy Corbyn, Labour MP for Islington North, presented a bill to tackle lettings agents and ‘the sheer nastiness’ of some PRS landlords in the House of Commons yesterday.

He called for the regulation of lettings agents, to stop issues such as high search fees, which can run into hundreds of pounds. Mr Corbyn told parliament a search often ‘consists of no more than checking through a computer database to see whether they have any properties for that person’.

He wanted to see tenants’ deposits protected, enforcement of environmental and energy-efficiency standards in private-sector rented accommodation and to amend the law on secure tenancies.

The bill calls for tenant protection and five-year tenancies with a break clause for the tenants so they can leave before the five years are up, if they need to.

He said because of high rents and government’s housing benefit caps London MP were seeing a ‘massive depopulation of our communities’.

‘It is high time that parliament looked at the situation facing people in the private rented sector and introduced thorough and comprehensive regulation,’ he said.

‘We need to provide security, decency and reliable landlords for those people who are unable to buy and unable to access local authority or housing association accommodation.’

The Communities and Local Government department’s English Housing Survey, published earlier this month, showed the number of households living in the private rented sector had risen to the same level as those in social housing for the first time. It showed the number of households in PRS accommodation rose from 3.6 million in 2010/2011 to 3.8 million in 2011/2012.

The bill was supported by 11 other MPs. It will be read for a second time on 26 April.