Isle of Man landlords association hits out at registration scheme

The government wants to make landlord registration a legal requirement next year

Private landlords on the Isle of Man "need to think long and hard" about joining a government registration scheme, an industry body has warned.

Those who let properties have been invited to voluntarily sign up before it becomes mandatory next year.

The register has been introduced after a bill was passed with new minimum standards in the private rental market.

Alan Burrows of the Isle of Man Landlords Association said the new laws will have "unintended consequences".

The Department of Infrastructure is aiming to make the register a legal requirement by winter 2022 and has offered to waive joining fees for those who sign up before then.

Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall said it was to make the transition "easier for them when the time comes".

'Uncertain times'

But Mr Burrows, who is chairman of the landlords association, said there were reports of some "actively withdrawing themselves from the market" as a result of uncertainty over the scheme's finer details.

"They are coming to the opinion that we have no idea what we are signing up for, and thinking do I really want to be a landlord in these uncertain times?", he said.

"Take a typical 100-year-old property in Douglas, how do those landlords know, for instance, what insulation standard they are going to have to comply with, and whether they can even achieve it? Surely that type of detail needs to be ironed out before you bring this in."

Regulations setting out the detail behind the new standards, which includes property maintenance, personal requirements, and enforcement rules, are being drafted by the department with a public consultation due later this year.

Mr Burrows said the department had failed to engage with the association about their concerns.