A planned national landlord register in England could increase administrative effort and costs without improving property standards, according to Propertymark. The database, scheduled for introduction this year under the Renters' Rights Act, will require private landlords to register personal data and information on individual properties.
Propertymark points out that there are already over 40 licensing and registration schemes in England and Wales, operated by local authorities. These include initiatives such as Selective Licensing for private rental properties in specific areas, deemed necessary by the respective council to combat issues such as anti-social behaviour, high tenant turnover, or poor property management.
Existing regulations and additional burden
The organisation stressed that many of the proposed requirements that will be included in the new nationwide register are already covered by existing regulations. The concern is that another layer of bureaucracy will be introduced, offering little additional benefit but burdening landlords and managers with duplicate registrations and fees.
Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy at Propertymark, commented on the situation: "We support the need to better empower local authorities to enforce against landlord breaches, but there are already a number of licensing and registration schemes that collect a wide range of data from landlords and properties." He pointed out that existing systems already capture essential information that a new register would merely duplicate.
The association is instead calling for optimisation and better enforcement of already existing regulations, rather than creating new, potentially redundant systems. This would not only increase efficiency but also minimise the financial burden for landlords and, ultimately, for tenants.
Impact on the rental market
An unnecessary increase in operating costs for landlords could lead to a reduction in supply in the rental market, as some landlords might decide to exit the sector. This could subsequently lead to higher rents and further restrict the availability of rental housing, particularly in areas where demand is already high.
- —More than 40 local licensing and registration schemes are already active in England and Wales.
- —The planned register could lead to duplicate registrations and fees.
- —Propertymark advocates for the optimisation of existing systems instead of the introduction of new, redundant databases.
- —There is a risk that landlords might leave the market due to increased costs, which could reduce rental supply.
