UKAA to respond to CMA review of the private rented sector

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced a review of the rental housing sector, to hear the experiences of tenants in the private rented sector, and the relationship between residents and landlords. The CMA will report on its initial findings and proposed next steps this summer.

UKAA will work with the CMA to provide insight into renter experience and operator practice across the BTR sector on behalf of the UKAA membership, to demonstrate the professional nature of BTR and the high standards of quality offered through BTR’s culture of customer centricity and providing quality homes.

The UKAA has already taken pro-active steps to engage with the CMA and agreed a joint strategy with the BPF. We will continue to seek to collaborate with other organisations who will responding to this review. We will provide regular updates to UKAA membership.

If you are interested to contribute to the UKAA’s submission of information to the CMA review, please contact Graham Sibley [email protected]

Details of the review

The CMA’s consumer enforcement work in housing 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 examine the relationship between tenants and landlords and the role of intermediaries, such as letting agents

Following a period of targeted stakeholder engagement across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the CMA will report on its initial findings and proposed next steps this summer.

Project information

During its leasehold investigation, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has come across a number of challenges faced by landlords and their tenants within the private rented sector.

CMA want to develop further our understanding of the issues in the rented housing market, which includes a wide range of rented accommodation as well as the private rented sector, to see if these challenges reflect current positions across the UK market.

Over the 3-month period of this project, CMA will be reaching out to stakeholders in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England to identify the key consumer protection issues for landlords and their tenants.

2 March 2023