The Department of Social Care (DSC) has published a consultation response report detailing the comments received in response to the Landlord and Tenant (Private Housing) Bill consultation.
Social Care Minister Chris Robertshaw MHK said: “The consultation produced a good response with a range of views submitted. Respondents showed strong support for landlords and their dwellings complying with minimum standards. Although, concerns were raised that the legislation may create additional bureaucracy for landlords.
This legislation is not about creating another layer of bureaucracy for landlords. It is about creating one centralised register of private sector housing landlords and ensuring that they, and their properties, meet a set of minimum standards; the majority of which are drawn from existing legislation. The registration process will be light touch and the primary involvement of most landlords will be to simply complete the registration form every three years. There is no automatic inspection on registration and we will trust landlords to self-certificate via the registration form.”
The Minister continued: “I recognise that there have been some unfounded concerns around how the legislation will operate but, I am confident that the consultation response report will provide adequate detail to address those concerns. It will also provide clarity for both landlords and tenants on how the registration scheme will work in practice.”
The Department has also undertaken a review of the voluntary registration scheme as a consequence of comments made throughout consultation process and in applications for the voluntary scheme. As a result the DSC will be making some changes to the wording of the minimum standards and the application form to ensure that it is as clear and simple as possible to complete.
The full Landlord and Tenant (Private Housing) Bill consultation response report can be found at:
https://www.gov.im/socialcare/ConsultationDetail.gov?id=365.
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