The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, has pledged to offer private tenants greater rights by making it compulsory for landlords to register with an ombudsman scheme. Under the initiative, all private landlords would have to become members of an ombudsman scheme in a bid to improve the dispute resolution system for tenants.

New incentives will also be revealed in the Autumn Budget to ensure that landlords offer tenancies of at least 12 months, Javid said. The new Conservative plans also involve a proposal to ensure that all letting agents are registered, which would mean that agents would not be able to operate in the role without qualifications or professional oversight.

Javid said: “For too long, tenants have felt unable to resolve the issues they’ve faced, be it insecure tenure, unfair letting agents’ fees or poor treatment by their landlord with little to no means of redress. We’re going to change that. We will insist that all landlords are part of a redress scheme and we will regulate letting agents who want to operate. Everyone has a right to feel safe and secure in their own homes, and we will make sure they do.”