Review of the Barriers to Understanding and Improving the Private Rented Sector

A National Register of Rents as a solution and an alternative to a Landlord Register:      A short paper.

 

As the government drags its feet over S21 and other such delights that eventually await us in their much delayed Private Rented Sector White Paper, I have been mulling over the efficacy of a National Landlord Register.

 

I see the benefits and the need for the PRS to once and for all clean up its act.  Not that all landlords are bad, nor even a majority, but it's the minority of persistent delinquent individuals that give the whole sector a bad name and why the government has (almost) decided to act. 

 

But I view the implementation of a National Landlord Register as a missed opportunity.  Why simply enforce landlords to register when there's a significant data hole in the PRS. So, why don't we take this opportunity and collect as much data as we can? 

 

I appreciate my short paper doesn't have all the answers, or cover all eventualities. I haven't, for example, yet resolved how we might deal with a licence to occupy which many of the burgeoning CoLiving schemes operate under. 

 

So, my paper is a catalyst; a discussion piece where we can look at where we are and ask ourselves is it enough to simply collect the information on the landlords. I don't think it is.  I hope we can look at the wider opportunities presented to the sector by collecting as much data as we possibly can.  If we want to professionalise the PRS we need to know what's going on. A National Register of Rents will give us dynamic insights into the sector. It may even be a precursor to developing dynamic pricing models.

 

I welcome any comments and you can contact me at richardb@blackbirdre.com to discuss further. The paper can be downloaded below. 

 

An Independant Review of the Barriers to Understanding the PRS
A National Register of Rents as a Solution and an Alternative to Landlord Registration.
Independent Review of the Barriers to Un[...]
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© Richard Berridge