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A register of private landlords should be established by the government to ensure homes are maintained properly, the Commons has heard.
Labour's Phil Wilson (Sedgefield) said the private renting sector needs to be "professionalised" in order to prevent landlords lending their properties fall into disrepair and lead to problems such as anti-social behaviour.
Wilson told MPs greater regulation of the private sector is needed to stop vulnerable families from being exploited.
Presenting his Private Landlords (Register and Duties) bill to the Commons on Tuesday, he said that those landlords who fail to meet certain standards could be struck off and its administration could be paid for by making landlords pay a small fee.
The legislation would require landlords, many of whom live abroad, to pay into a 'community levy', to help fund improvements to their neighbourhoods.
Introducing his bill under the ten minute rule motion, Wilson said 50 per cent of private rented properties currently fail to meet the decent homes standard while by 2020, private lets will account for 30 per cent of the UK's housing stock.
High property prices, cuts to social housing and changes to legislation will mean the poorest increasingly renting their homes on the private market, he warned.
Wilson told MPs: "The expansion of the buy-to-let lending over the last decades saw a much wider range of individuals becoming landlords.
"Many have little or no experience, knowledge or understanding of their responsibilities or the complex legal framework needed for renting.
"In fact, the buy-to-let sector includes more than 650,000 homes that could have been in the owner-occupier market, and the fact that they are not has helped to force up house prices.
"There are many good landlords but the vast majority are amateurs without the skills or where-with-all to do with being a private landlord."
He added: "If in nine years’ time, by 2020, one in five of our homes is a private let, the whole sector needs to be professionalised. The private rented sector is the only sector that is currently expanding. The sector is necessary but also needs to live up to its own responsibilities."
The Bill will be read a second time on November 18, but is unlikely to make further progress due to lack of parliamentary time.
Article Comments
Hi thanks for sharing the info, really useful.
john
24th Jun 2011 at 12:29 pm
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