The NLA Criticizes Landlord Registration Scheme

The recent proposal by the UK Government to introduce the landlord registration scheme caused some criticism among landlords, particularly, the National Landlords Association. The Governmental proposal implies that landlords will have to list both, their personal details and details of their rental premises every year and to pay a small fee of £50 to cover administrative costs. The registration procedure is to be run and monitored by an independent organization. All landlords are planned to have a unique number, which will be used in tenancy agreements and various court proceedings, such as eviction processes and benefit claims.
The National Landlords Association believes that the most controversial point of the proposal is a requirement to submit all the details and to re-register them every year. They claim that the similar registration scheme has been in place in Scotland for three years; however the examination of its effectiveness showed that one in four rental properties have not been registered so far, which means that the majority of landlords have to comply with stricter regulations, while the minority of “bad” landlords simply disregard the regulation just like they did before.
The NLA also claimed that the results of the examination showed that the introduction of the registration scheme did not bring any direct benefits neither to landlords, nor to tenants. Furthermore, the NLA gas gathered evidence, which suggests that some local Scottish authorities are aware of the unregistered landlords but lack resources to influence the situation.
David Salusbury, NLA chairman claimed that although the organization believes that the easy-to-use and the low-cost registry system might bring some benefits to both, tenants and landlords, the requirement to submit all the addresses of buy to let properties and to re-register them annually is rather intrusive and of no direct benefit to either party.
He continued by saying that the buy to let sector is already heavily regulated, and that all changes need to be very carefully considered before they are put into force. Mr. Salusbury also added that penalties are the last thing that good landlords look for in the current economic conditions.
He added that the registration system, which is to be introduced, needs to focus on the regulation of bad landlords, rather than on penalization of good ones.
The NLA said it looks for governmental assurances that the new system will be properly resourced and will bring direct benefits to landlords and tenants.