| Letting Rip |
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| Guess who's going to pay for landlord regulation! |
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| The Law Commission has deliberated from the lofty heights of academia about the thorny problem of landlord regulation. |
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| It's difficult to argue about their new proposals to self-regulate the private sector rental industry to improve standards for landlords and tenants. |
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| Landlords who cut corners can be their own worst enemies. Just look at the sad story of the six-year-old girl who died from breathing carbon monoxide fumes from a faulty boiler. |
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| But...and it's a big but, the report doesn't say who foots the final bill for regulation. |
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| I fear it's going to go the same way as HMO (Houses in multiple occupation, like bedsits) regulation, because in the Law Commission proposal, it's suggested that each local council should certify private landlords. |
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| With HMO's each council has been left to make up it's own mind about how much the licensing process should cost, and some have bled the private landlord of cash a lot more than others. |
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| If the Law Commission proposals are adopted by the Government, then this time round, they should set a consistent, nationwide fee for certification. |
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| Sky high registration costs could push the private rental sector and the housing market in to even a worse place than it is now as tenants fail to pay up rents and profit margins shrink with inflation. |
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| Unfortunately, I can't see this Government helping out landlords who may have to comply with new rules in the same way as they bail out the greedy robber barons at the banks who gambled and lost on the mortgage markets. |
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| Published: 18 August 2008 |
