By Tony Booth

The RAC has the power to reduce a rent determined by a private sector landlord and once set, the new rent becomes the legal maximum the landlord can charge.

What is a Rent Assessment Committee (RAC)?

There are five regional Rent Assessment Panels in England and one in Wales, with counterparts in Northern Ireland and Scotland operating under slightly different legislation. The Panels collectively belong to the Residential Property Tribunal Service.

A Rent Assessment Committee is made up of sometimes two but usually three people from the appropriate regional Rent Assessment Panel where a let property is situated. Committees consist of a lawyer, a valuer and a layperson. An RAC is effectively an independent decision making body with no connection to local or central government, to the parties involved or to any other public sector agency. They were originally set-up under the provisions of the Rent Act 1977.