Written evidence to be reported to the House
Housing and Regeneration Bill
4:45 pm
Alan Walters: As chairman of my tenants association and a member of the federation, I suppose that I would say that the best protection is to have tenants’ organisations and to make representations to landlords and other bodies. We are not opposed in principle to a regulator, but the problem is that the Bill is worded in such a way that the regulator is not obliged to consult tenants. The provision is extremely woolly and vague, and I believe that the obligation is to consult one organisation, which could be the limit of the consultation, so the danger is that an independent, remote body will never reflect tenants’ views and tenants will be no more empowered than they are now.