Responding to this morning’s announcement by the government of plans to roll out the new national landlord register and designate the Valuation Office to carry out rent determinations, Holly Williamson, Chief Executive of Generation Rent, said:
On the new landlord database:
“Homes are the foundations of our lives, but right now we know very little about the people who we rent them from. Landlords demand all sorts of intrusive information about us before we can secure a tenancy, so the new landlord register offers a chance to level the playing field. It also brings England into line with every other part of the UK where landlords already need to be registered.
“The new database could give renters the information they need to make much better informed decisions about their homes, while also helping councils make sure landlords are abiding by the new law, with the fee for landlords helping to fund council enforcement teams. But it will only be as useful as the information it records. It’s particularly vital the database records actual rents, to help inform rent tribunal decisions, and eviction notices, to help councils enforce the ban on re-letting a home after landlords evict in order to sell or move in themselves.”
On the plans for a new rent determination system:
“The cost of renting is like a runaway train with no driver, while too many renters are passengers with no control over our lives. Rather than develop a new system to allow renters to challenge unaffordable rent increases, a much simpler and more effective solution would be to introduce a limit on how much landlords can raise the rent. This would save the average renter hundreds of pounds a year without costing the Treasury.”
Ends
Notes to editors
Generation Rent has campaigned for a national landlord register since we launched in 2014.
Landlords in the West Midlands will be the first to be required to register, from December 2026, with all rented properties in England covered by November 2027.
Rent determinations will be carried out by the Valuation Office after legislation has been passed. Until then the First-Tier Tribunal will handle these cases.
Full details of the government’s announcement can be found here
