Local authorities should be given more funding to enforce the government’s Tenant Fees Bill, MPs have warned today.
The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee said that while the Bill will save renters hundreds of pounds by banning fees from landlords and letting agents, the legislation could be improved to make the market fairer and more transparent.
The report recommends security deposits are capped at the equivalent of five weeks’ rent, and landlords should not be able to retain the full holding deposit if a tenant fails a reference check.
Clive Betts MP, chair of the HCLG Committee, added: ‘We also had concerns about how the law will be enforced. Funding enforcement through the retention of fines gives local authorities a perverse disincentive to proactively engage with lettings agents and landlords.
‘If councils are to be given this extra enforcement responsibility, they must either be given extra resources or the maximum amount of civil penalty needs to be increased.’
The Local Government Association (LGA) welcomed the call for extra funding to enforce the measures in the Bill. Cllr Martin Tett, the LGA’s housing Spokesman, said: ‘If the Government expects local authorities to enforce the cap, it’s vital that it provides the resources and funding that will be needed in order to make such enforcement successful.
‘It is therefore positive that the committee has backed the LGA’s call for more funding for local authorities for enforcement as well as a national information campaign to make tenants aware of the new rules.’