Petition House rental reform

I feel that housing tenants are have very poor protection from unscrupulous landlords and estate agents.

Prospective tenants are often disciminated against by landlords and estate agents who may have a less than perfect credit history.

I would like the following points to be debated

* Landlords and estate agents place to many barriers in the form of credit checks etc to prevent prospective tenants from renting a property

* Estate agents should only charge an administration fee upon approval.

* There is no protection for tenants when a landlord defaults on a mortgage.

* People are unfairly discriminated against who are either self employed or claim housing benifit

* Insurance companies should not require tenants to have a good credit history when insuring against tenant defaults.

* The tenancy deposit scheme needs better enforcement

* The industry needs regulating

* Landlords require better protection against bad tenants