The gentle touch?

In a surprising show of unanimity, tenants’, landlords’ and letting agents’ representatives reached consensus over the thorny issue of landlord registration, at this year’s ROOF conference.

During a centrepiece debate on whether or not government plans to register private landlords go far enough, speakers agreed that the main concern was a lack of enforcement that rendered legislation designed to protect tenants toothless.

Chairing the debate, Jacky Peacock from Brent Private Tenants’ Rights Group, summed up the sentiment saying:

‘Regardless of whether or not you think that light touch is the way forward, the issue we all share is that we are reliant on those who are meant to enforce regulation. That is the missing piece and it’s the reason why HMO licensing and energy performance certificates have been so ineffective.’