The issue of whether the buy to let industry needs to be regulated has rumbled on for some time. On the one hand, critics of regulation say it isn’t necessary as the industry effectively self-regulates itself by way of organisations such as the Association of Letting Agents (ARLA), but those who are pro-regulation insist that introducing government regulation will help to reduce the number of rogue landlords and dodgy letting agents that blight the private rental sector.
The former Housing Minister, Grant Schapps, was very much against the concept of government regulation and his policy was that no form of regulation was needed. He took the view that the buy to let industry was well governed by consumer credit law and therefore tenants were very safe.
However, Mr Schapps was unseated from his post a few weeks back when David Cameron shuffled his cabinet around and installed Mark Prisk as the new Housing Minister, and although the Communities and Local Government (CLG) minister, Baroness Hanham, further reiterated the Grant Schapps policy in response to a recent question in parliament, it now appears as if the government has done a massive U-turn.
According to a new announcement made by the CLG, a select group of MPs will now look at the private rental sector and consider a number of important issues. These include regulating landlords and letting agents in an attempt to crack down on rogue landlords and unnecessary fees charged by unscrupulous letting agents, the application of consistent standards to rental homes in the private sector, rents and rent caps, tenancy agreements and the length of tenure, and shared house regulations.
