10th July 2009
Compulsory licensing of private sector landlords is a bad idea – there is simply no evidence that licensing landlords will solve the “modern housing dilemma”
The 2008 government-commissioned Rugg Review has called for “a light-touch licensing system for landlords and mandatory regulation for letting agencies, to increase protection for both vulnerable tenants and good landlords”. Yet, one only has to look at the 2007 Cave Review of public sector housing, (already heavily regulated) to see that licensing private landlords would create more problems than it would solve. It concluded that “no single approach was capable of dealing with the regulatory problem of social housing” and that “unnecessary regulation” should be eliminated.
As a nation we have a romantic and idealistic view about homes and property – “an Englishman’s home is his castle” where one has a right to act as
one pleases. But there is a dichotomy in our quixotic notions about the role of housing in society.
The correlation between housing conditions and physical and mental ill health is well established. Yet the relationship is complex, with race, gender, poverty, education and access to housing just some of the factors affecting health.
While social housing policy is based on core principles to provide decent housing for all in sustainable communities, the role of the private sector is more ambiguous. Private sector rental is based on commercial principles, with those entering the arena rarely motivated by philanthropic notions. For most private landlords, the common
denominator is financial.
But there is also no evidence to suggest that landlords harass or evict tenants, or refuse to repair properties due to some moral paucity of character or criminal intent. It is usually due to a more complex mix of factors – lack of funds, breakdown of relationships or a desire to protect their investment.
So will licensing change any of this? According to the Hill Review (2007) 34 per cent of regulated social homes remain non-decent. Nor has HMO licensing universally raised standards or suddenly made HMO landlords nicer people, prepared to sit down over a cup of tea to discuss late payment of rent.
Surely a more sensible approach to raising housing standards, improving health and protecting tenants, would involve a compulsory requirement for public and private landlords to ensure their properties are periodically inspected and tenants issued with a HHSRS certificate, similar to the letting requirements for EPC and gas safety certificates. A HHSRS certificate stipulating that a property is free of category one or two hazards would give tenants more tangible security than an ineffectual licensing register.