Local authorities need to hold landlord forums to allow them to properly engage with the Renters Reform Bill passing through parliament, Propertymark has argued.
The estate agency trade group found that 52% of local authorities in England have not had a landlord forum since 2021, according to a Freedom of Information request.
Propertymark wrote to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Jacob Young, in January to stress the importance of the UK government providing local authorities with the resources to hold landlord forums, and pressing the Minister to encourage councils to hold them too.
Tim Thomas, policy and campaigns officer at Propertymark, said: “English local authorities must hold more forums with letting agents and landlords.
“Should The proposals in the Renters Reform Bill will bring substantial change to the private rented sector, but the legislation will only succeed if local authorities are provided with sufficient resources to engage with letting agents and landlords.”
Last year, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Private Rented Sector warned that UK government reforms to the private rented sector cannot succeed without adequate resources to guarantee they can be enforced.
Some of the provisions contained in the Renters Reform Bill include the abolition of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and a new Decent Homes Standard.
Propertymark thinks should the Renters Reform Bill become law, that local authorities must engage with landlords and consider specific engagement with property agents, otherwise the Renters Reform Bill will not have the government’s intended impact.
