The private rented sector is a cottage industry, with a vast and growing customer base.

Most of the operators are small-time players, owning one or two properties. Many of these amateur landlords regard their portfolios of flats as long-term investments and are mindful of their responsibilities and the need for high standards of service.

But others are “accidental” landlords who have taken in tenants because they could not find buyers for their properties in the downturn and are woefully ignorant of the duties that attach to their new status. Others were persuaded that borrowing money to acquire a buy-to-let apartment was a swift route to riches and are now both financially overextended and irked by the difficulties of finding tenants and meeting their requirements.

Fortunately, few can be described as “Rachmanite”, that is, guilty of the violent practices of Peter Rachman, the notorious West London slum landlord of the late 1950s. But a considerable number of rental properties are in a deplorable state of repair. And trouble can lurk even in impeccably decorated apartments with the latest kitchens.

Tenants can find themselves homeless because their landlord has not informed his mortgage lender that he has let out the property and has also failed to meet his loan repayments and been repossessed.

The sector’s lack of professionalism would be a concern, even if it were not forecast to become an even bigger industry. Large numbers of people in their twenties and thirties who would like to buy their own homes are forced to rent as a result of the continuing lack of mortgages. There are predictions that this “Generation Rent” could remain tenants until middle age.

Frustrated first-time buyers are only one of the groups who rely on the sector. Professor Julie Rugg, of the University of York, who was commissioned by the Government to devise rental accommodation reforms, highlighted the diversity of the customer base which ranges from international bankers to asylum seekers, from students to young professionals.

In her report, released last year, Professor Rugg recommended: a “light-touch licensing system” for landlords; VAT relief, stamp duty and other tax breaks to encourage the refurbishment of substandard properties; and a new complaints procedure for tenants.

Although last month’s Budget did not contain any tax concessions, the Government is implementing the licensing proposal. There are moves elsewhere to improve the lot of tenants by better policing of the conduct of the middlemen — the letting agents.

Today the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (Arla) will outline a licensing system for its estate agency members to get rid of cowboy firms and give greater protection for tenants.

Responsible landlords will probably view the licensing scheme as yet more paperwork. We should always remember that letting out properties can be a thankless task. Landlords will, however, accept the system provided that it is effective, unlike that introduced three years ago in Scotland. In a recent report Shelter Scotland said that 15 per cent of all landlords — covering 25 per cent of all rental properties — were not signed up to this scheme.

Upstanding landlords, rightly, regard this lackadaisical implementation as an affront.

Tenants will want to see the small print of the licensing scheme before they conclude that it will make them rest easier. Letting agents say that tenants are becoming increasingly discontented with arrangements that force them to disclose financial information to a prospective landlord, while receiving none in return.

The Government must ensure that, in such circumstances, the tables are turned, with licences dependent on a level of solvency.

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