The Residential Landlords Association has called for increased enforcement of existing legislations in order to protect tenants, as opposed to the introduction of further rules and regulations.
Compliance
Yesterday, the Welsh Government announced its, ‘Rent Smart Wales’ scheme. Speaking at the launch, RLA vice chairman in Wales, Douglas Haig, said, ‘whilst we encourage all landlords to comply with the new regulations and follow the Welsh Government’s guidance the RLA believes that this will detract local authorities’ attention away from tackling the minority of landlords who are criminals and stretch resources further.’[1]
‘We believe that existing regulations in the private rented sector are sufficient to tackle the criminal landlords, however we do not see adequate enforcement of the powers that already exist. A better deal for tenants would be to put the resources used to create the scheme into enforcement instead,’ Haig continued.[1]
Costs
Confirmation is still be to given on when a landlord will be able to begin registering under the scheme or start preparing for training. What’s more, the cost of licensing or applying for a licence has also yet to be revealed. The RLA suggests that this may be around £200 per managing landlord.
[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/7/rla-enforcement-not-regulation-needed-to-protect-tenants