Housing Rights has highlighted the charging of fees by letting agents as a key issue for consumers, in our response to the Consumer Council’s consultation on its Draft Forward Work Programme 2016-17 and Corporate Plan 2016-2021.
The Department for Social Development is keen to hear more from tenants who are currently renting a home from a private landlord or through a private agent in Northern Ireland. The Department is currently carrying out a comprehensive review of the private rented sector.
Housing Rights welcomes the review of the Private Rented Sector and supports further regulation which has the objective of enhancing the capacity of the sector to deliver homes which are fit for the future.
Edited by Professor Paddy Gray, University of Ulster, and supported by the Housing Executive, the publication looks at the issues surrounding housing in Northern Ireland.
Since it was established in 2012, the Private Tenants’ Forum has worked to raise awareness of the issues which prevail in the private rented sector (PRS) and to promote reform of the sector. The Forum was set up against the backdrop of a changing sector in Northern Ireland. From 1991 – 2011 there was a huge increase of 505% in the number of people living in the private rented sector. Around 1 in 5 people now live in the sector.
The Private Tenants' Forum responds to the Department for Social Development's review of the private rented sector and asks for further support to be given to tenants and landlords in this sector.
Despite numerous efforts to promote and publicise the need for landlords to protect any deposits paid since 1 April 2013, many of our clients still report that their deposits have not been protected.
From February 2016 landlords in England face financial penalties and prosecution if they rent to someone who does not have a legal right to be in the UK. The roll out of the "right to rent checks", introduced by the Immigration Act 2014, has not yet reached Northern Ireland and local landlords can continue to do business as usual.
