Ed Miliband Proposes Landlord Database

Ed Miliband, leader of the Labour Party, has proposed a national register of landlords and more powers for councils to tackle rogue landlords.

A “national register” of landlords, the likes of which already exists in Scotland, was proposed under the last Labour government.  This was abandoned by the coalition which said it did not want to impose “burdensome red tape and bureaucracy”.

Mr Miliband said he wanted to give proper rights and protections to those who rent.

He said: “That’s why we will root out rogue landlords, we will stop people from being ripped off by letting agents and we want to give new security to families who rent.”

It would also give greater security to families who rent and remove the barriers preventing longer term tenancies, he pledged.

A Conservative spokesman said Mr Miliband failed to answer how he would deal with the “record deficit” left behind by his predecessors.  He said: “Instead of facing up to the difficult decisions, all Labour offer is more spending, more borrowing, and more debt – exactly how they got us in to this mess in the first place.”