Buy to Let
Generation Rent clueless over their rights
Millions of tenants and landlords across the country are unaware of the laws governing the rental sector, according to LetBritain.
The online letting agent found that 37% of UK tenants and 16% of landlords don’t know that renters must be given at least two months’ notice if a landlord wants to evict them.
Plus a third of all people in rented accommodation – 5.8 million people – do not realise they have the right for their deposits to be placed in a Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme. Worryingly, 12% of UK landlords were also unaware of this rule.
Even more renters (43%) and landlords (19%) have no idea that tenants can challenge any excessive charges made by a landlord via an ombudsman, according to the research.
And over a quarter (28%) of tenants did not know a landlord should provide 24 hours’ notice before entering their property.
Fareed Nabir, CEO of LetBritain, said: “Today’s research delivers some really important findings. It is clear that a huge proportion of UK renters – a population growing in size – do not truly understand the legislation and regulation in place to protect them.
“Likewise, a concerning number of landlords are also in the dark about exactly what rights and responsibilities they have. Such a lack of awareness increases the risk of renters and landlords being exploited – it must be addressed and lettings agents certainly have a duty to better inform all their customers about the vital legislative framework governing the rental sector.”