Ed Miliband sets out plans to protect private rented housing tenants

As previously described in these pages there exists an unequal relationship between private landlords and their tenants which distorts the housing market and leaves too many tenants at the mercy of unscrupulous landlords and their agents.

Ed Miliband
Leader of the Labour Party

In a speech on Saturday, Ed Miliband outlined plans to rebalance the relationship between private landlords and their tenants.

“ Britain is in danger of having two nations divided between those who own their one homes and those who rent.  If we are going to build One Nation, people who rent their homes should have rights and protections as well.

That’s about rooting out the rogue landlords.  Stopping families being ripped off by letting agents.  And giving new security to families who rent.

So we will introduce a national register of landlords, to give greater powers for local authorities to root out and strike off rogue landlords.  We will end the confusing, inconsistent fees and charges in the private rented sector.  And we will seek to give greater security to families who rent and remove the barriers that stand in the way of longer term tenancies