A think-tank report said that tenants were being let down by an unregulated lettings market, with significant upfront costs, variable fees, and a lack of transparency around charges. It called for greater regulation of letting agents in order to improve transparency and create a more competitive market.
Source: Louisa Darian, Renting in the Dark: Creating a lettings market that works for tenants, Resolution Foundation
Links: Report | Resolution Foundation press release | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Dec
A report on the private rented sector said that existing returns for landlords were very low once costs and inflation were taken into account, despite headline reports of rising rents. This was restricting the amount of new accommodation available to meet increasing demand.
Source: Michael Ball, Investing in Private Renting: Landlord returns, taxation and the future of the private rented sector, Residential Landlords Association
Links: RLA press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2011-Nov
A study found that typical rents from private landlords were over one-third of average take-home pay (the accepted measure of affordability) in over one-half (55 per cent) of local authorities in England.
Source: Analysis of Local Rent Levels and Affordability, Shelter
Links: Report | Shelter press release | Labour Party press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2011-Oct
A briefing paper said that local authorities had dealt with more than 86,000 complaints from private tenants in 2010-11, and over 350,000 private renters experienced housing problems in the same year. The sector was blighted by a large number of amateur landlords failing to offer good standards to their tenants, and a small minority of rogue landlords who deliberately preyed on vulnerable people. The scale of problems in the private rented sector raised serious questions about the suitability of private renting in general, and in particular for growing number of families and vulnerable households who had few other options open to them.
Source: Robbie de Santos, Asserting Authority: Calling time on rogue landlords, Shelter
Links: Briefing | Shelter press release
Date: 2011-Sep
A think-tank report said that low-to-middle income households were likely to be shut out of home-ownership for a lifetime, because of high average first-time buyer house prices and more restricted loan-to-value mortgage advances. It proposed a new approach to build-to-let housing, involving close partnerships between local authorities, institutional investors, developers, and landlords.
Source: Vidhya Alakeson, Making a Rented House a Home: Housing solutions for generation rent , Resolution Foundation
Links: Report | Resolution Foundation press release
Date: 2011-Aug
The government began consultation on implementation issues related to a new 'mandatory power' of possession, designed to enable landlords to take swifter action to evict their most anti-social tenants.
Source: A New Mandatory Power of Possession for Anti-Social Behaviour: Consultation, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Consultation document | DCLG press release
Date: 2011-Aug
An article reported research on people who lived in housing that was defined as 'non-permanent' by policy-makers in England, focusing on two particular groups – residents of park homes and residential boaters. The nature of tenure relations in both settings potentially led to vulnerability.
Source: Mark Bevan, 'Living in non-permanent accommodation in England: liminal experiences of home', Housing Studies, Volume 26 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-May
An article examined rental housing 'tools' (such as housing benefit) in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States of America in order to determine the best strategy for enhancing rental housing accessibility.
Source: Abiy Agiro and Jonathan Matusitz, 'Housing vouchers, benefits and allowances (VBAs): comparing rental tools in the US, England and the Netherlands', International Journal of Housing Policy, Volume 11 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Mar
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales said that the private rented sector was increasingly meeting the needs of those who could not enter social housing, and the growing number of people who could not afford to buy their own home outright. It called on the Welsh Government to promote a positive public image of the sector as a tenure of choice, and to produce a strategy for developing the role of the sector.
Source: Making the Most of the Private Rented Sector in Wales, Communities and Culture Committee, National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Feb
The consumer rights watchdog said that consideration should be given to introducing a scheme of tenant feedback on landlords, or 'reputational regulation'. The scheme would allow existing tenants to rate their landlords – providing prospective tenants with information on a landlord's track record and reputation, and enabling them to make more of an informed choice before signing up to a tenancy.
Source: Claire McAnulty, Opening the Door: Examining the potential for reputational regulation of private rented sector landlords, Consumer Focus
Links: Report | Research report | Consumer Focus press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2011-Feb
A report by a committee of MSPs broadly welcomed the Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Bill (designed to improve standards and promote sustainable growth in the private rented housing sector). But it expressed concern that the Bill would make it difficult to predict the number of homelessness cases, and over whether there would be space in the private and social rented sector to house displaced people.
Source: Stage 1 Report on the Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Bill, 2nd Report 2011, SP Paper 560, Scottish Parliament Local Government and Communities Committee
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Jan