Government consultation on weeding out rogue agents'

The Department of Communities and Local Government is consulting on conditions of properties in the private rented sector as part of a campaign to clean-up letting agents.

It sets out 23 questions on a consultation document posted on the department's section of the www.gov.uk site. Questions cover the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords, so-called retaliatory eviction, Rent Repayment Orders, safety issues, the licensing of rented housing and and government's own health and safety rating system.

The introduction to the consultation makes the government's intentions clear. It says it wants to strengthen the hand of consumers against the minority of letting agents and landlords which it describes as rogue.

As part of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 the government is now insisting that all letting and managing agents in England join an approved redress scheme. This will offer a clear route for landlords and tenants to pursue complaints [and] weed out the agents that give the whole sector a bad name, and drive up standards says DCLG.

The closing date for responses, which have to be submitted by email to PRSreview@communities.gsi.gov.uk is March 21.