Probe into the ‘consumer rights’ of renters launched

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has revealed that it is to investigate the consumer rights of tenants and explore what can be done to help landlords and intermediaries to understand their obligations.

The organisation is also launching a market study into housebuilding amid concerns that housebuilders are not delivering the homes people need at sufficient scale or speed.

The CMA’s chief executive, Sarah Cardell, said: “We want to explore the experiences people have of the rental sector and whether there are issues here that the CMA can help with.

“We will of course be guided by the evidence, but if we find competition or consumer protection concerns, we are prepared to take the steps necessary to address them.”

Consumer enforcement work in the private rented sector

The CMA says that its consumer enforcement work in the private rented sector will focus on:

• The end-to-end experience from a tenant’s perspective, including finding somewhere to live, renting a property and moving between homes
• Identifying the consumer protection issues that may arise.

The project will also examine the relationship between tenants and landlords and the role of intermediaries, such as letting agents.

The organisation says there will now be targeted stakeholder engagement across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with a report on its findings published in the summer.

The quality and cost of housing

The CMA also says that the quality and cost of housing is one of the biggest issues facing the country.

And, over the last few years, it has delivered change for leaseholders, with tens of thousands of homeowners receiving refunds after being overcharged unfair ground rents.

With that work nearly finished, it says it now look in detail at the housebuilding sector.

The CMA makes clear that if there are competition issues holding back housebuilding in Britain then it will need to find – but warns that introducing more competition alone won’t unlock a housebuilding boom.