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Self-regulation gets landlord backing

15th August 2008 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

Self-regulation is seen in many industries as a positive sign that those who operate in it are capable of keeping their own house in order, maintaining public confidence and possessing enough expertise to find solutions to problems without the need for outside intervention.

In some industries, such as the media, public confidence can decline precisely because its instruments of self-regulation can sometimes be seen to be inadequate when it comes to dealing with grievances on matters that do not actually breach civil or criminal law.

In the buy-to-let property sector, however, it appears that a much better balance may be at hand. The law commission has set out a series of new plans that it hopes will strengthen the buy-to-let sector by enabling it to build on its self-regulatory frameworks, ensuring high standards are achieved, grievances limited and the quality of accommodation kept high.

Entitled Housing: Encouraging Responsible Letting, the commission's report contained such proposals as establishing a housing standards monitor, putting in place a stakeholder board on which all sides - including landlords and tenants - will be represented, putting in place a pilot scheme for home condition reports, set up a single code of housing management practice for landlords and make landlord accreditation schemes available in every local government district in the country.

Chairman of the National Landlords Association David Salusbury declared general satisfaction with the reports. He said: "The National Landlords Association welcomes many of the staged reforms the Law Commission proposes. In fact, further enhancing good practice to build on voluntary self-regulation can only be a good thing for both landlords and tenants."

Mr Salusbury added: "We are pleased to see the recognition that local authorities have an important role to play in the enforcement of regulation."

The key to making all this work well, he went on, was to avoid a "piecemeal" approach by bringing the law commission report together alongside all the other publications that have been produced.

Singing from the same hymn sheet could help the industry - which has grown hugely in the recent boom years - to put together a comprehensive approach that could create a wide consensus on how self-regulation should work.

As the credit crunch moves on, landlords face both opportunities and threats. The former come through trends such as the 76 per cent increase in demand for rented accommodation in the past 12 months recorded by estate agency Your Move. Threats include the risk of investing in the wrong kind of property, such as apartments in areas with oversupply issues.

For landlords to do well, individuals must make the right investment decisions. But on a collective level successful self-regulation that maintains confidence can also help the long-term prospects of buy-to-let.

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