One unintended side effect of the government's attempts to make the private rental market more 'transparent and fair? for tenants through legislation has been to significantly alter the balance of power between tenants and landlords.

This is not an overnight revolution; for some time, tenants have felt that landlords hold all the cards in the renting game. But the near defeat of Theresa May's government in the 2017 election spurred on ministers to make drastic changes.

Fairer renting

This has kick-started several government initiatives to regulate rented homes as well as make renting fairer, the most significant of which has been the Tenant Fees Act that became law on 1 June, outlawing most fees charged to tenants by landlords or letting agents.

The huge media coverage of this has made tenants aware that the balance of power between tenants and landlords has shifted. This is a process which will increase following looming changes to the UK's evictions laws, the lengthening of tenancy contracts, and the potential introduction of both landlord registration in England and a housing court system.

Cheaper moves

Tenants are now able to move home much more easily and cheaply following the fees ban. So, if landlords don't come up to scratch, tenants can take the decision to vote with their feet.

So how will landlords manage this altered relationship? The most obvious answer is that a growing number of tenants will expect landlords to be more than just accommodation providers and offer them benefits in return for the rent they pay, other than just square feet.

New services

The market has been quick to spot this and a raft of new services that provide landlords with the opportunity to offer a better service have started up recently.

These include both smartphone-based fault reporting and concierge-style services, deposit replacement products, discounted utility package providers and rent reporting.

Reporting rent payments to a credit reference agency, such as Experian, is helping tenants to build their credit history. This has proved to be one of the most popular services, and a winner for everyone.

Tenants appreciate being able to make their rental payments more visible to lenders and being able to access finance, potentially at better rates. But it also gives agents and landlords the confidence that their prospective tenants have a solid rent payment history behind them.

Nearly £100 million of rent has been reported by my company alone (we are backed by HM Treasury and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)), and we?re just one small part of a revolution in the way landlords and tenants interact. Servicing the rental market may be a balancing act, but it comes with positive benefits for both tenants and landlords if done properly.