A Tory activist has proposed an online register of all private tenancies.
John Moss, a Conservative candidate for the London Assembly, says it would be a better idea than licensing all private landlords.
He suggests a simple, online system whereby landlords would enter their details, the address of the property and the tenants’ names, and with a single click, produce a simple form setting out to the tenant what they were expected to do and telling them what the landlord would do.
He says this would help both sides know both their rights and their responsibilities, and could be especially useful to new tenants and new landlords.
Moss also suggests the addition of a rating system, by which landlords and tenants could comment on the condition of the property and how the other behaved during the tenancy.
Moss says: “Tenants can look up a property to see if previous tenants had problems or if the landlord acted unreasonably, and landlords gain something akin to an online reference checking service, so they know whether their prospective tenant walked out leaving the place a mess or failed to pay their rent. All this should drive better behaviour from both landlords and tenants.
“Conveniently, this would also create a list for the Treasury to check against tax returns to make sure landlords are properly declaring the income they receive. That will help boost tax revenues and make a small contribution to helping us dig our way out of the debts Labour left behind.”
You can read the blog here.
http://tinyurl.com/6br3828
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Comments
I smell a HIP coming on. No thought by anyone in the business and some jobsworth coming up with a redundant before it gets off the ground idea.
Tory activist needs to be castrated without anasthetic and and then asked if he still thinks this is a good idea.
Come to think of it who else could we do this to?
Come on get your thinking caps on for answers please which will be much more interesting I am sure.
@Industry Observer.
We must agree to disagree about this..
However, please read my reply to your post on yesterdays LAT regarding a surveyors duty of care - because it still puzzles me.
@Ray Evans
I take the point but I think having tenants living in death traps is far more serious.
Point is this
I could list you probably 20 things without even thinking about it where I cannot do what I's like to do (starting with if I own a Maserati I can still only do a max of 70mph in this country bit it's my car so why can't I drive it as I like?
I can't sell you a pension; can't operate on yu; can't MoT your car and so on and so on.
Yet I can meet you down the pub, take money off you and give you keys and basically control where you live, or at least heavuily influence it.
Do you think that's fair? After all you don't have to own and rent property do you, that is where the choice lies. So if you do fine but you have to do it through a licensed agent.
John Moss wold be creating a charter for the kind of trouble maker that we all are aware of.
@ Industry Observer
"........make it illegal for a private Landlord to rent out property privately for domestic residential use and to have an effective and above all well monitored, policed and enforced licensing system for agents......".
I agree with a lot of what you say but In my view it should not be illegal for a private landlord to do as he likes with his own property within existing law (unless mortgaged when the lender has say). That would be draconian and we have eneough of that already.
However, licensing yes. The licenced agents should then have eneough 'nous' to shout it from the housetops to both landlords and tenants the benifits of using them.
A tenant who did not would only have themselves to blame if thing go wrong.
What is needed that solves everything and as I have argued for donkeys years is to make it illegal for a private Landlord to rent out property privately for domestic residential use and to have an effective and above all well monitored, policed and enforced licensing system for agents.
That way you cut out both the rogue and couldn't care less plus the well intentioned but not doing it properly Landlords and of course all the useless pile it high sell it cheap though I don't know what I'm doing agents.
The only people who say they should be allowed to let privately are the Lndlords themselves (and their own trade bodies of course as the private Landlord is their onlyy justification for existing). Inm my experience self and vested interest is often the worst reason to allow and permit something.
Just look at where it got us with TDP and two unnecessary schemes that only exist because of lobbying and self interest.
It will never happen of course but licensing (as in Australia I believe and in the USA for realtors?) is what is needed. Debating anything else is only a partial solution and a waste of time.
The TDP schemes already have registers containing all the tenancies - what is this guy going on about ?
What for??? More ridiculousness from the nanny state.
And what about holiday rental property?
Shared accommodation?
Rented rooms?
Where does one draw a line at appropriate legislation and over-demanding interference?
The problems with many well intentioned MP's is that they simply do not understand the business. They don't realise that money is a key factor - be it landlords saving fees, avoiding tax, or tenants getting cheap deals by cutting out the agent and in so doing putting themselves at risk from rogues.
The only way to change things is to ensure that lettings agents and landlords are governed by LAW and have to comply with specific statutory legislation including compliant simply worded agreements, statement of rights, CMP, PI insurance and mandatory membership of independent redress schemes.
A lettings register is about as useful to to the industry as concrete is to hang gliding.
Good intentions, wrong solution. I agree with RealLets - the real answer is to regulate agents and drive standards up in our profession.
Great - something else for us to do and which will result in yet another charge.
Not to mention a nice little database for HMRC to check up on Landlords.
How could this possibly be policed when the Law does not require a tenancy agree to even be in writing?
IF the Government really want to do some good - GET LETTINGS AGENTS REGULATED - and sort out the badly written legislation which allows landlords not register deposits and remain unpunished provided they do so before the court hearing.