This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Petition Make landlords provide references from previous tenants.
Landlords looking to rent out their property privately must provide references from previous tenants.
This is to demonstrate they are legitimate landlords who do not illegally evict tenants and correctly carry out repairs when an issue is highlighted.
More details
At present tenants are required to provide references from former landlords or employers to evidence they would be good tenants, though this requirement is not reciprocated by landlords.
This gives landlords more power than tenants, and means that tenants are not given an adequate history of the landlord.
It is unacceptable that tenants are expected to provide references as part of a tenancy sign up, though landlords aren't required to do the same.
This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months