Landlord database awareness trails Renters’ Rights Act understanding

Fewer than one in four landlords surveyed knows about the planned landlord database and ombudsman, despite four in five saying they understand the Renters’ Rights Act.

Research by property management platform August found that just 23% of respondents were aware of the database and ombudsman, which it says every private landlord in England will be required to join.

That was the lowest awareness score among the seven measures covered by its latest landlord survey.

However, 81% said they understood the Act at least in its main points, exposing a gap between landlords’ confidence and their familiarity with individual requirements.

Warning over registration awareness

The firm’s chief executive, Richard Samuel, said: “Landlords have done the hard work of understanding the parts of the Act that change how they let and how they evict.

“What has not landed is that the database and the ombudsman are not optional extras for problem landlords; every landlord in England will have to register and sign up.”

He added: “That is a communication failure the sector needs to fix before the registration deadline, because the penalties for not being on the database will fall on landlords who simply never heard about it.”

The findings also suggest that experience makes a difference.

Among landlords aged 65 or over, 77% said they had already changed their practices, compared with 41% of those aged 35 to 44.

Half of the younger group understood the main points but had not acted.

A third of landlords with fewer than three years’ experience knew about the legislation without understanding its details.

Understanding has not always led to action

Almost half of respondents (46%), said they understood the legislation and had already changed how they operate.

Another 35% understood the main points but had yet to act, while 12% knew the Act existed without understanding the details.

The remaining 7% had not heard of it before completing the survey.

The most widely recognised measure was the right to request a pet, which landlords cannot unreasonably refuse, at 59%.

That was followed by the rule limiting rent increases to once a year through a formal notice, recognised by 55%.

Awareness fell to 49% for the ban on refusing tenants with children or on benefits, 47% for periodic tenancies and 46% for the abolition of Section 21.

Meanwhile, 42% recognised the restriction on taking more than one month’s rent in advance.

Property118 readers raise concerns about fees

The warning comes after Property118’s latest landlord survey analysis, highlighted readers’ concerns about fines for minor administrative mistakes and the accumulating cost of licensing, registration and other fees.

Among 1,486 respondents answering a question about factors influencing decisions to sell, 53.4% cited selective and additional licensing and council enforcement.

Some readers also called for time to correct mistakes before penalties were imposed.

Those findings reflect landlord concerns that database registration brings another administrative responsibility at a time when many landlords are concerned about the consequences of getting paperwork wrong.