The powerful and all-party Communities & Local Government Select Committee of MPs has launched a new enquiry into improving the quality of the private rental sector.

The inquiry will focus on the role of local authorities and whether they have sufficient powers to deal with rogue landlords in particular.

The inquiry will also examine whether landlord licensing schemes are actually achieving their goals and the effectiveness of complaint mechanisms for tenants.

“With a big rise in the number of people renting over the last decade, there are real concerns about the ability of local authorities to protect tenants by tackling bad landlords and practices” says Clive Betts MP, Chair of the Communities and Local Government Committee.

“Our inquiry will examine how local authorities can carry out enforcement work to deal with rogue landlords as well as looking at approaches used by councils to provide private rented accommodation in their areas.”

The move has been welcomed by ARLA Propertymark. Chief executive David Cox says: “This is a great opportunity to review enforcement in the private rented sector. For years successive governments have introduced law after law with no evaluation of their effectiveness. With what appears to be a coherent strategy on the regulation of the PRS coming from the Government, it is an ideal time to review what has worked and what hasn’t.”