Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory annual reporting by councils on enforcement activity to ensure transparency and accountability.

The Department recognises the importance of good quality data on enforcement in the Private Rented Sector to support good decision making at both national and local level, and the monitoring and evaluation of Renters’ Rights Bill implementation.

The Bill places a new duty on local authorities to report to the Secretary of State on their activities under the legislation. We expect to start formally collecting data from local authorities on enforcement activity in the 2026/27 financial year.