A leading association for professional landlords is appealing for a moratorium on the country’s “beleaguered” private rented homes sector.

“We seem to have suffered a barrage of legislation and reviews in the last couple of years and it’s still not over yet,” says Lee Dribben, chairman of the Residential Landlords Association - whose members own over 100,000 private rented properties throughout the UK.

Landlords are currently awaiting the recommendations of a Law Commission reform programme, which includes ways of regulating of the sector, and a further announcement on new housing minister Caroline Flint’s independent review on improving social and private rented housing services.

“The government review, for one, is far too soon,” says Lee. “The last Housing Act scheduled a review in three years time and we’ve not reached the two year mark yet. There’s been no time for that legislation to settle down – or the tenancy deposit schemes that were introduced last year.

“But there’s more to come. In April the government will start to roll out a new system of paying housing allowances direct to benefit claimants in the hope they will use it to settle their rent bills.

“In October we will have the new energy performance certificates to contend with.

“And we haven’t yet come to real terms with housing information packs or solved last year’s confusing system of fire safety regulations for shared houses.

“Being a landlord has sometimes felt like dodging sniper fire while threading a path through a minefield.

“Isn’t there an argument for letting the whole sector settle down a bit before attempting to review the bigger picture of what’s happening?

“We know some of the legislation isn’t yet working properly. Licensing ‘houses in multiple occupation’ – as required by the new Housing Act - has only reached a third of the expected number. Tenancy deposit schemes have not had the anticipated response either.

“Various regulations aimed at weeding out bad landlords are not affecting them at all. Instead they flog the willing horses - good landlords who were complying anyway – which worsens the situation and contributes to the risk of a future housing crisis.

“That’s why a pointless review, at this time, would only give a distorted picture of a beleaguered sector that desperately needs a moratorium. A breathing space, until the Housing Act review comes due in 2009, would give time for everything to bed down until we see where we are.”

 
Regulation – in particular self-regulation and local landlord accreditation schemes – is among several issues on which the Residential Landlords Association is campaigning. They include lobbying for the formal acceptance of a Code of Practice laying down expected standards for professional landlords, a common sense approach to the implementation of Housing Act licence conditions and fees relating to houses in multiple occupation, as well as a re-think on fire safety regulations, housing allowance payments and the Tenancy Deposit Schemes.