Buy-to-let landlords have backed the National Audit Office’s (NAO) call for a strategic approach to improving the rental sector in England.

The NAO says that it wants to see an improvement to the existing enforcement of the regulations already in place – a proposal that has gone down well with the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA).

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, has issued a response to the NAO report published today on the regulation of the private rented sector.

He said: “Regulation of the private rented sector needs to ensure that homes are safe and meet all required standards. Too often the approach to this has been piecemeal. It has led to a proliferation of initiatives such as licensing, banning orders and a rogue landlord database with little evidence to show they are working.

“We support the NAO’s call for a more strategic approach. There is a pressing need for a better evidence base to ensure the system focuses on rooting out criminal and rogue landlords who bring the sector into disrepute. Too often councils focus much of their time regulating compliant landlords who are easy to find.

“The NAO is right also to call for better enforcement of the regulations already in place. This needs to include tenants better understanding their rights and responsibilities.”

To improve enforcement, the NRLA is calling for the development of a meaningful national redress scheme for the sector as part of the government’s forthcoming White Paper on rental reform.