Government Launches New Rent Guide for Tenants

As part of a wider crackdown on rogue landlords, housing minister Kris Hopkins has launched a new How to Rent guide for tenants in the private rented sector. By providing easy access to useful and understandable information, it is hoped that a growing number of tenants will be more conscious of their rights, making them less likely to be exploited by rogue landlords.

It is hoped that, with well-informed tenants who have the knowledge to hold their landlord to account, there will be no need to introduce excessive regulation to combat the small minority of landlords who do not perform their legal responsibilities.

The guide includes information on all the basic aspects of lettings, such as tenancy length, bill payments, and deposit schemes – an aspect of lettings tenants seem particularly unsure of. It also provides a checklist of things the landlord must provide tenants, including gas safety certificate and deposit paperwork.

The new guide has been well-received in the lettings industry, with both the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) and the British Property Federation (BPF) firmly standing behind it. Ian Fletcher, director of policy at the BPF, described it as “an important step in making sure that the rental market operates at a high standard.”

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