Former Burnley MP calls the Government’s plans for new property agents regulator a 'minor move' in campaign to protect tenants

A Lords committee has urged the Government to get on with creating the new regulator of property agents to stop malpractice and protect tenants, four years after it committed to doing so.

The committee is also calling for: mandatory qualifications for property agents, including dealing ethically with consumers; industry codes of practice operated by the new regulator, focused on achieving good outcomes for consumers; and tenants’ voices to be represented in law, loudly and clearly.

But Coun. Gordon Birtwistle says the Government must also speed up its plans to end Section 21 notices so that tenants can approach councils about property disrepairs without fear of their landlord making them homeless.

Speaking about the committee’s proposals, he said: “I would support that but it is only a minor move in the challenge to ensure the tenants of private rented properties are in law guaranteed a fit and secure home to bring their families up in.”

He is appealing for the Government to speed up “the end of Section 21 notices to enable tenants to make representation to councils regarding issues with their properties without fear of eviction.”

In a letter to Levelling Up Secretary of State Michael Gove, the Lords committee warns the Government’s delay in creating a new regulator impacts tenants and leaseholders exposed to malpractice.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton, Chairperson of the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee, said “the Government has been sitting on its hands for four years” while “the sector has been left in limbo.”