David Salusbury, chairman of the National Landlords Association (NLA), commenting on Shelter's latest research revealing that almost one million Britons have fallen victim to housing scams, said:
"It is clear that the overwhelming majority of tenants are satisfied by the service they receive from their landlords.
"Both landlords and tenants have rights and responsibilities placed upon them by the law. Landlords are required to provide a well maintained and safe property for their tenants which include an annual gas safety check. They are also required to protect their tenants' deposit in a Government-approved scheme.
"Tenants have obligations. They are required to look after the property, reporting repairs and problems quickly. They are also required to pay rent on time and to allow their landlord access to the property, given proper notice.
"Given that there are over 3.4 million households in the private-rented sector, tenancies go wrong in a relatively small number of cases. Some of the scams mentioned by Shelter have nothing to do with landlords but are the acts of professional criminals - we roundly condemn such practices."
