A month ago a registered landlady invited her local council to inspect her multi-tenanted building to make sure she met all the latest health and safety rules after installing a new boiler.

She was aware that the Government is keen to tighten up the rules on private landlords in order to protect tenants from sub-standard accommodation. She was also aware that the new Housing Act, which requires landlords to raise standards, would be coming into force in November.

So, keen to play by the rules, she had a Corgi-registered plumber install the fully registered boiler. Then she called the council. She thought the inspection process would be a quick ticking of a box and a chat over a cup of tea. How wrong she was. Over the next few weeks three local officials and a council-endorsed plumber disagreed, at times violently, between themselves over what was safe or healthy.

The landlady, who has asked to remain anonymous, said the first council officer to arrive at the start of January was the fire officer.

He immediately objected to where the plumber had installed the boiler and said she would also need to install two new fire doors. Next was the environmental officer, who thought the fire doors demanded by the fire officer did not offer an easy escape and so told the landlady to put in new windows with different handles.

The fire officer then returned to inspect the fire doors and added that a gate should be put in the fence at the back of the property, to allow for firemen to get through in case of emergency. When the planning officer came round he disagreed with the fire officer's plan, arguing that people running out on to the street from the new gate would cause problems on the road.

After several weeks of trying to please everyone, the landlady has decided it is easier to sell the property than try to run it as a business.

"It is ridiculous," she said. "No one could agree on what was 'fit' in my property or not. One building regulation seems to annul another. Even now no one in my council can advise me the exact legal standards my property has to comply with as a 'house in multiple occupation'. "

She is not the only landlady to be confused. The Residential Landlords Association, which has more than 100,000 members, said it has been inundated with calls from members uncertain about when and how to comply with the new Act. "The Housing Act is supposed to raise standards of safety for tenants, but even local councils are confused over what the standards are," said Mark Butterworth, policy director for the RLA.

"There are no time-scales, a lot more regulations, a lot more jobs for council workers and a lot more paperwork for landlords."

A spokesman for Keith Hill, the minister responsible for enacting the Housing Act for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, admitted there were cases where local officials did not agree. "The new Housing Act was created with these discrepancies in mind. We are trying to make it easier for everyone to work together," he said.

But he denied there was confusion over definitions for landlords and councils. "The programme is being rolled out over the next two years, so landlords could adapt and upgrade when it is convenient to them and local councils."

Mr Hill said in a statement: "I am very keen any licensing scheme that is introduced should not impose undue financial or administrative burdens on landlords. However, we also recognise some of the very worst housing and management conditions can be found in this sector, particularly in the stock of houses in multiple occupation.

"We want to see standards improve where that is necessary to meet acceptable levels and licensing will help to do this. Landlords who already look after their properties in a satisfactory manner should have nothing to fear from the legislation. If anything, they should welcome it as a benefit in ensuring a level playing field in the market."

The RLA said, however, it thought the latitude local authorities had in interpreting the Act was causing great anxiety. "Licensing schemes change from council to council," Mr Butterworth said. "It means if you are a landlord with more than one property in a different area, you will be subject to different standards. This legislation is just pushing people out of the market except for newly built homes."

Our anonymous landlady agreed. "If I had known what a nightmare running a property would be, I never would have gone into this in the first place," she said.