Regulating the private rented sector: millennial themes

• Author: Tola Amodu
• Position: School of Law, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
• Pages: 154-168

Regulating the private rented

sector: millennial themes

Tola Amodu

School of Law, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

Abstract

Purpose –This paper considers the evolutionof government policies regarding the provision of housing in

the private rented sector and the regulation of landlord behaviour by mapping this onto known regulatory

theory. It arguesthat the current regulatory trajectory is highly problematicboth from the perspective of land

law (by furtherattenuating the conception of propertyrights) and indeed regulatory compliance.

Design/methodology/approach –The approach maps successive governments’policy stance, what is

known of the configuration of the sector and the current demand for housing against evolving regulatory

theory (inparticular compliance). The piece draws on bothproperty theory and economic analysis.

Findings –Enrolling private sector landlords to enforce policies, other thanthose relating to the landlord

and tenant relation(as indicated by the “right to rent”provisions), and attempts at professionalizingthe sector

may be highly problematic. Furthermore, the growth of regulation may impose an increasing regulatory

burden on a significant proportion of the sector, namely, the smallerlandlord especially those owning who

own only one property.

Research limitations/implications –The hypothesis has not been tested aside in a generalized

manner by making referenceto the evidence obtained by other researchers and landlord associations.It is for

other researcherswho may wish to test the hypothesis empirically.

Practical implications –This paper includes a view that has not (to the author’s knowledge) been

expresslyarticulated by Government or through its policies andis one which it may wish to reflect upon.

Originality/value –This paper adopts a novel stance by deploying regulatory theory with

understandingsof property to highlight potential adverseeffects.

Keywords Housing, Regulation, Private rented sector, Property law, Housing crisis,

Private landlords

Paper type Conceptual paper

The current housing shortage highlights both the importance and, indeed, the fragility of

housing provision inEngland and Wales. Successive governments’focus has been to look to

the market to resolve deficits in supply. Government’s reliance on the private sector to

provide housing, of necessity, invokesa use of law to do so and this in turn places property

rights and interests at the fulcrumof state action. No mechanism is available to Government

to lawfully alter private rightsand interests without legal authority. To do otherwise would

offend the law against “takings”, as it has no inherent right to expropriate interests. Thus,

the government must “regulate”to achieve its desired policy outcomes and this is secured

through legislation and policy. With property in its sights, it is perhaps odd that there has

been little if any discussion of how these activities impinge upon “property”both as a legal

fact in the construction of housing rights and its underlying conceptualization. Looking at

the emergent trend in the regulatory styles deployed by successive governments is an

interesting way to explorethis.

The deference to market solutions to resolve housing dilemmas has grown with the

advent of the New Public Management ideology where the government is an “enabler”

rather than a provider (Osborneand Gaebler, 1992). Yet, intervention by regulation has been

JPPEL

10,2

154

Received11 March 2018

Revised30 April 2018

Accepted7 May 2018

Journalof Property, Planning and

EnvironmentalLaw

Vol.10 No. 2, 2018

pp. 154-168

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2514-9407

DOI 10.1108/JPPEL-03-2018-0010

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