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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department will take to ensure local authorities are adequately resourced to improve standards in the private rented sector.

Through the Renters’ Rights Bill, the government is strengthening local authorities’ enforcement powers and extending and increasing ring-fenced civil penalties to support a ‘polluter pays’ approach.

In accordance with the New Burdens Doctrine, we will ensure additional net costs on local authorities created by our reforms are fully funded.

We will continue to explore how best we can create a sustainable funding system for private rented sector enforcement over the long-term, including through fees.