It’s claimed that the private rental sector database being set up by the government will cost over £325m.
The figure comes from the National Residential Landlord Association which says that in return there will be only “an extremely limited service to tenants and landlords.”
From December the database will roll out to English regions, with landlords obliged to pay £65 per year for every rental property.
The NRLA says this is almost seven times the figure the government first envisaged in the Impact Assessment for the Renters Rights Bill, prior to it becoming law.
With just over five million private rented sector dwellings in England, this means the database will cost the sector a minimum of £327m per year.
The association warns that this is “a cost that will ultimately be borne by renters.”
And it goes on to say: “Despite these projected costs, much of the information being provided to the database simply replicates what landlords are already required to give to councils where licensing schemes are in operation.
“Such schemes can cost as much as £2,300 per property.”
The association notes that at present there are no plans by the government to digitise gas and electrical safety certificates in the same way as Energy Performance Certificates.
This means these certificates will need to be manually scanned and uploaded onto the database, adding further to the cost of compliance.
NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle comments: “A well-designed database should make it easy for landlords to demonstrate compliance with their obligations; empower tenants; and be truly digital in every way. This looks likely to fail on every count.
“What we have on offer is a costly mess. It expects payment for landlords to provide much the same information as many already give their councils, with no additional benefit to them or their customers.
“The mind boggles that landlords are to be forced to pay more to manually upload documents to a website than mechanics are permitted to charge to carry out an MOT check, which includes a comprehensive, hands-on examination of a car’s roadworthiness. Frankly, landlords and tenants are being ripped off in the name of consumer protection.
“The hundreds of millions the sector will be expected to pour into this thin gruel of a database would be far better spent helping landlords meet the Government’s energy efficiency targets.”
This article is taken from Landlord Today