Recommendation 15

Long wait times, made worse during the COVID-19 pandemic, are also a barrier to local regulation.33 For example, Liverpool City Council had a city-wide scheme from 2015 to 2020 that was popular locally, which lapsed while the Department was considering the Council’s application to renew the scheme for another five years. Several months later the Department rejected the application. The council subsequently produced a new application for a narrower scheme which eventually the Department approved, but the slowness of the process left the council with no scheme at all for nearly two years.34 33 C&AG’s Report, para 3.14 34 Qq 38–50 12 Regulation of private renting 2 Improving the sector for renters Renters’ right to a safe and secure home