All landlords in the private rented sector will soon have to subscribe to an industry ombudsman redress scheme - and agents will have to be qualified and regulated - according to an announcement at the recent Conservative Party conference.

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid used his speech in Manchester to reveal plans to improve regulation of the sector to better protect tenants and landlords.

As well as regulating letting agents, private landlords will have to become members of one of the three existing redress schemes that agents currently have to join. The aim is to improve the way disputes are managed and resolved, allowing quicker and fairer decisions for all parties.

Daniel Dowling, technical and compliance director at Romans, says: “We are delighted to see the government taking action on this at last. Over the thirty years we have been involved in the lettings industry, we have seen far too many landlords and tenants get their fingers badly burnt by incompetent or unscrupulous agents. There has been case after shocking case of agents misusing tenants’ deposits, failing to pay rent over to landlords, ignoring regulations and often disappearing with thousands of pounds worth of clients’ money, never to be seen again.”