Tenants' Rights
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Renters' Rights Bill on renters in rent to rent schemes.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook
Tenants living under rent-to-rent arrangements should have legal protections and the same right to redress as other private renters.
Rent to rent arrangements can be abused to make it more difficult to identify landlords and hold them to account.
The Renters’ Rights Bill addresses this in several ways:
To improve enforcement against criminal rent to rent schemes, we are expanding rent repayment orders to cover superior landlords in rent-to-rent arrangements. This will mean all landlords involved can be held to account by tenants.
We are also extending liability for rent repayment orders to company directors. This will help to ensure that where the rent-to-rent company has committed an offence, the individuals behind it cannot escape liability.
Complex ownership arrangements for rent-to-rent agreements should not impede effective enforcement. We intend to pass secondary legislation which will require the details of others associated with the property, such as the owner or superior landlord, to be recorded on the Private Rented Sector Database.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →