Cuts in local councils’ budgets mean that they will be less able than ever to police the private rented sector.
The claim has come from the Residential Landlords Association in the wake of the spending review, which announced 10% cuts to local authority budgets for 2015/16.
The RLA says this will have a serious impact on the ability of already hard-pressed councils to enforce existing regulations for the private rented sector.
Alan Ward, RLA chairman, said: “The private rented sector is already creaking under the weight of regulations and red tape imposed on it which local authorities are struggling at best to enforce.
“The fresh cuts to local authorities will exacerbate this still further, leaving tenants without the protection they need and deserve.
“In the face of such challenges, it is more important than ever to adopt the RLA’s two-path approach to regulation – a robust accreditation scheme for the majority of landlords, leaving local authorities to actively pursue those criminal elements who bring misery to the lives of tenants and who quite simply do not make themselves known whatever scheme is enforced.”
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