In conjunction with the announcement made by Housing Minister, John Healey, regarding the measures outlined in ‘The Private Rented Sector: Professionalism and Quality’ consultation paper , Upad, the UK’s largest lettings agent has conducted a poll of more than 150 private tenants.
John Healey has called for practical help and protection for tenants in privately rented homes. This includes a new housing hotline, a ‘trip adviser’ style feedback website and a National Landlords Register.
Upad’s tenant survey corroborates the proposals made in the consultation paper, and the findings include:
• 57 percent of tenants knew nothing about their current landlord before renting the property they currently reside in.
• 77 percent of respondents said it would be useful to find out what other/previous tenants thought of a landlord (pre-renting).
• 82 percent of tenants suggested that it would be useful to find out about landlords from a centralised website. This corroborates the proposals outlined by Government, in terms of a central National Landlord’s Register.
Tenants were also asked to leave specific feedback in relation to the subject, and comments included the following:
• “I think that landlords can really take advantage of people without ever being accountable for their actions...”
• “I think it would have been very beneficial to talk to the previous tenants to find out about him and his actions. I think had I done that, I would have never rented this accommodation and also others in the past.”