Watchdog slams government’s ‘piecemeal’ attempts to improve conditions for private renters

Despite having aspirations to develop a more unified strategy, the DLUHC lacks a clear plan to overhaul the “fragmented and overly complex” system renters must contend with, in part because it does not have the insight necessary to understand what problems are happening where, the NAO analysis concluded.

“It lacks robust data on key issues where regulatory action may be required such as harassment, evictions and disrepair that is not being addressed,” the report said.

“The department also does not know the full costs to landlords of complying with their obligations [and] without such data, will struggle to measure the impact of its interventions or establish whether further action is needed.”

Alicia Kennedy, the director of Generation Rent, the campaign group, said the new report highlighted “huge gaps” in the government’s regulation of the PRS, which provides homes to 11 million people.

“We know that one in eight private renters lives in an unsafe home, yet just 10 landlords and letting agents have been banned since the powers to do this were introduced,” Ms Kennedy said, adding that the government should require all landlords to register their properties.

“This would help the government and councils gather better data about the sector, improve enforcement of the law and give renters better access to redress when things go wrong, which would meet many of the NAO’s recommendations,” she said.

As well as defining an overall strategy and vision for regulating the PRS, which has doubled in size during recent decades, the NAO recommended the government set out specific outcomes and measures it intends to achieve through reform.

The watchdog also called for transparent reporting of progress, the publication of data to support decision-making by public bodies, and work to identify and promote good practice among local authorities. It said the government should carry out its own review into whether the existing enforcement powers granted to councils are fit for purpose.

Variations in approaches from area to area were one focus for the NAO’s evaluation, which observed that local authorities faced a range of barriers around effective enforcement.

“These include insufficient staff with the right skills, limited resources and funding, the complexity of the legislative framework and the variety of team structures within local authorities,” it said.

The report added that the DLUHC did not know which interventions by councils were effective because there was no routine data collection around factors such as complaints, property inspections or the number of staff dealing with harassment or illegal evictions.

“Local authorities highlighted areas where more guidance and sharing of best practice would be particularly helpful, including evaluations of what regulatory tools are effective and when, and guidance on topics such as setting civil penalties or cross-team working in two-tier authorities,” it said.

Councils interviewed for the NAO research that had applied to the DLUHC looking to implement selective landlord licensing schemes described the resource-heavy and feedback-light application process as another barrier.

David Renard, the Local Government Association’s housing spokesperson, said councils “want all tenants to be able to live in safe and secure, high-quality housing and can play a key role in driving up standards in the private rented sector”.

Mr Renard said that with more powers, such as the freedom to establish landlord licensing schemes, councils would be better placed to support a good-quality local PRS.

But, in the longer term, the government should seek to increase housing security by tackling the overall unaffordability of housing, Mr Renard said.

“Giving councils the powers and resources to build 100,000 social homes for rent a year would go a long way towards tackling this urgent issue,” he said.