One of the key provisions of the now-defunct Renters (Reform) Bill was the provision of a national portal to register all landlords.

This is in effect a licencing system for every landlord in England and Wales and something Labour has said it would like to resurrect if it wins the General Election.

Whether the portal was going to be in addition to selective licencing or in replacement was not clear. But one key provision of the portal was that tenants should know who the ultimate landlord is so that the licence cannot be taken out by an agent unlike selective licencing.

Many landlords are unaware of this provision especially those who may only have 1 or 2 properties (which is over 70% of all Landlords ).

This is a provision that will be part of any Labour plans for the private rented sector.

But will this be a problem for landlords with jobs that require you to get permission before you can take an interest in a matter that might affect the company or organisation?

Marcus Selmon (main picture) of Portfolio Landlords Action Network and CEO of the Selshaw Group explains the impact.

Pressure groups

“Many buy-to-let landlords are either professional people like solicitors or accountants or executives in major companies in the UK or abroad. For their name to go onto a public register like this as a landlord could cause problems both for them and their employers,” he says.

“Imagine for example a tenant looking up their landlord and finding they are a civil servant working for the Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities, a consultant working for a local hospital or a director of a major UK company.  This could cause them all sorts of problems if they are targeted by tenant pressure groups.

Rules

“That is why many companies have rules about what other interests their staff can have. I would not be surprised to hear that the employers of many buy-to-let landlords will not be happy to find their employees are on this register and might require the employee to get permission to be on the portal .

“They could well see this as a conflict of interest or something that brings the Company into disrepute.

“I do not think this was a problem before because owning a property was seen as a private matter but it changes when it becomes a matter of public record.

“That is why we are introducing a new form of buy-to-let investment that will involve creating small SPVs with a block of minority shareholdings that Investors can hold as an investment in a portfolio of 80 to 100 properties.

“As a minority shareholder in a property company you avoid any need to put your details on the portal and indeed any liability for the actions of the company. That should mean no employer is going to have an issue with that investment under the Renters (Reform) Act.”

Interestd landlords should email Marcus Selmon direct.