A broad commitment to strengthen landlords possession rights has been made in the Conservative manifesto – and it’s been welcomed by a leading industry body.

The manifesto says, in very unspecific terms: “If you’re one of the many good landlords, we will strengthen your rights of possession.”

However, the commitment has been welcomed by the Residential Landlords Association, as has the Conservative proposal for the concept of the lifetime deposit – an idea the RLA claims to have been the first to make public in the run up to the 2017 election.

David Smith, RLA policy director, says: “We agree that the system for repossessing properties is in need of reform and support the Conservatives’ proposals to strength the possession rights of good landlords.

“It is vital that the reforms are got right. At present it can take over five months for a landlord to repossess a property through the courts in legitimate circumstances.

“We will be keen to work with ministers to establish a new system of repossession rights and the establishment of a dedicated housing court to ensure good landlords and tenants can secure justice swiftly in the minority of cases where something goes wrong.

“It is disappointing that there is no mention of reversing some of the tax changes hitting landlords which have resulted in a drop in investment in the market, making it more difficult for tenants to find the housing they want.

“Longer tenancies for tenants will be meaningless without landlords entering and staying in the market long term.”

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