Landlord database “costs more than car MOT”
The NRLA's Ben Beadle says the new private rented database is a "rip off" and a "costly mess".
Landlord leaders have slammed a new database as a “rip-off” and a “costly mess”, just two months before it is due to be launched.
Plans for a private rented database will cost landlords £65 per property each year, more than the price for a car MOT, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) points out.
The total amount for over five million private sector properties will be a minimum of £327million a year, according to the NRLA.
Limited service
This comes, the NRLA says, while providing an extremely limited service to tenants and landlords.
From December the Government will roll out the planned database, a central part of its Renters’ Rights Act.
What we have on offer is a costly mess.”
Ben Beadle, CEO at the NRLA (pictured), says: “A well-designed database should make it easy for landlords to demonstrate compliance with their obligations; empower tenants; and be truly digital in every way. This looks likely to fail on every count.
“What we have on offer is a costly mess. It expects payment for landlords to provide much the same information as many already give their councils, with no additional benefit to them or their customers.”
He adds: “The mind boggles that landlords are to be forced to pay more to manually upload documents to a website than mechanics are permitted to charge to carry out an MOT check, which includes a comprehensive, hands-on examination of a car’s roadworthiness.
Ripped off
“Frankly, landlords and tenants are being ripped off in the name of consumer protection.”
The cost of £65 a year for every rental property is almost seven times the figure ministers envisaged in the Impact Assessment for the Renters’ Rights Act, NRLA says.
Plus, much of the information being provided to the database replicates what landlords are already required to give to councils where licensing schemes are in operation.
This is a back door way of councils to find out all the rental properties in their area then this will allow them to canvas landlords direct to offer long term fixed contracts – which we cannot offer – as they have no social housing. The second reason is as we all know just a money making exercise and when rents go up to cover yet another cost they will blame the landlords and agents. Landlords and motorist the people who keep giving.
I am 100% with Ben Beadle on this. £65 PER PROPERTY, EVERY YEAR is a complete and utter rip off.
Responsible landlords are already facing increasing costs and regulation, and now we have yet another compulsory charge imposed by this Government.
Call it a registration fee if you like. To landlords it will feel like yet another annual tax on providing homes.
And who ultimately pays when the cost of providing rented housing keeps increasing? These costs do not simply disappear.
Enough is enough. Landlords should not continually be treated as an endless source of revenue.