NRLA evidence takes centre stage in calls to scrap landlord database

NRLA briefings on the Government’s new landlord database has been cited in two key debates this week, with an opposition minister describing the planned rollout as a ‘total disaster.’

An NRLA briefing on the Government’s controversial new landlord database has been cited in two key debates this week, with an opposition minister describing the planned rollout as a ‘total disaster.’

Quoting extensively from the report, Shadow HCLG Minister Gareth Bacon MP said that while he doesn’t object to the register in principle, he has serious concerns around its implementation, structure and tech, telling the Delegated Legislation Committee the plans were ‘alien to any common-sense approach’.

He shared our concerns over the £65 per property per year cost, and the need for manual uploads, as well as the lack of a coherent audit trail that could leave landlords exposed to fines of up to £40,000.

During a debate on the proposals, he said: “Although the providers in the private rented sector are in broad agreement with the concept of a database, they are also united in viewing the approach of this Government as a total disaster.

“None of the concerns that I have outlined should come as news to the Government, because they have all been raised directly with Government officials by industry representatives’, adding, ‘How do the Government expect to earn or maintain the trust of the whole sector when they ignore its concerns and blindside it with extra financial and labour costs?’

Not fit for purpose

He concluded the plans not for purpose and asked housing minister Matthew Pennycook to scrap them immediately and start from scratch.

For the Liberal Democrats, housing spokesperson, Gideon Amos MP agreed the plan was ‘nothing short of a fiasco’ with problems ‘that will not only affect landlords, but tenants too’.

The committee voted in favour of the proposals by 11 votes to 6, marking the first of two statutory instruments needed to implement the database, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats on the panel voting against them.

The housing minister said his department is looking at way to streamline the uploading process to make it easier for landlords, particularly those managing large portfolios, to connect existing property management systems directly with the service.

However, he stood by the £65 per property per year cost, saying the cash will help fund enforcement.

A full transcript of the debate can be accessed here.

Lords debate

The database proposals were also considered in the House of Lords, where concerns mirrored those in the Commons debate, focussing – again – on issues we flagged in the briefing.

These include costs, issues with uploading documents en masse and the duplication of data already collected for local licensing schemes

Conservative peer Lord Fuller asked the Government why it is pressing ahead ‘when all the dashboard lights are flashing red’ and told the minister he should pull the scheme.

 Shadow HCLG Minister, Lord Jamieson (Conservative) agreed, telling Peers: “In many parts of the country, there is a desperate shortage of private rental housing. Yet, whether an individual landlord or a large-scale corporate landlord, the Government continue to make being a landlord more difficult, thus reducing the incentive to become a private landlord.

“This is already having an impact on the market: not only are we seeing landlords exiting, but I am told by the development industry that the private build-to-rent sector has stalled.

“Ultimately, it will be tenants who will bear the consequences at a time when we urgently need more homes to rent.

A full transcript of the debate can be accessed here.

Concerns

Our chief executive Ben Beadle said: Our briefing, which was sent to all ministers and peers, lays out in no uncertain terms the myriad of issues there are with the database as it stands, with opposition members in firm agreement with our stance.

“We continue to urge the Government to put the brakes on plans now to ensure they get it right first time, rather than blithely pushing ahead to meet some arbitrary timeline.”

Rollout of the new scheme will begin in the West Midlands on 15th December.

You will be given a three-month window to comply with the new rules, with all landlords to registered by 14th November next year. 

The Government has yet to specify what data will be shared publicly. Instead, the guidance says they will notify landlords with an update prior to the public portal going live.

For more details on when you will be impacted click here.

For the latest Government advice click here.