Rogue landlords dodge blacklist – in four years, just 56 named and shamed

Just 56 private landlords have been blacklisted and placed on the government’s rogue landlord register more than four years on from its launch, Metro can exclusively reveal.

Out of 333 local authorities in England, only 23 have submitted entries to register landlords and property agents found to have wrongly treated their tenants. To date, 99 offences – an average of just 25 a year – have been recorded.

The worst offending individual on the register has four convictions and banning orders.

Among local authorities with the highest number of registered criminal landlords were the London Borough of Camden with five, Liverpool City Council with four, Salford City Council with three and Telford & Wrekin in Shropshire, also with three.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by Metro to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) revealed the extent of the enforcement of rules brought in on April 6, 2018.

These rules make it mandatory for housing authorities to report when a landlord or property agent has received a banning order.

Under the legislation, however, housing authorities can use their ‘discretion’ to make entries where a landlord or property agent has been convicted of a banning order offence or has received two or more civil penalties within a year.

Lewis Shaw, mortgage expert at Shaw Financial Services, said local authorities were ‘stretched beyond breaking point’ following a decade of budget cuts.

He said: ‘To think they have the resources needed to keep rogue landlords on the straight and narrow is for the birds.

‘If local authorities don’t have the resources, the only way to try and protect renters is to make the punishments so harsh that landlords up their game for fear of being caught.’

Councils can impose civil penalties where landlords are convicted but Jonathan Burridge, founder of online mortgage broker We Are Money, argued councils should be allowed to fine landlords even where they haven’t been found guilty by a court.

‘If the cost of not complying is sufficiently high, I am sure 
cash-strapped local authorities will see the opportunity for much-needed revenue under the guise of housing equality,’ he added.

The register is supposed to weed out private landlords who are subjecting their tenants to slum living conditions and overcrowding, to ensure they aren’t given further opportunity to rent out properties in the future.

However, the database is targeted at only the very worst and persistent offenders – those who have committed banning order offences.

The government has previously said it takes time to secure convictions or civil penalty notices for this type of offence and the rules apply only to offences committed after April 6, 2018.

Before the pandemic struck, ministers were consulting on whether to extend the register’s scope to include landlords charging tenants unfair fees, those who failed to sign up to a redress scheme and landlords who failed to deal with mice, rats and other pests.

That consultation closed in October 2019 but to date no response has been published by government.

Polly Neate, chief executive of housing and homelessness charity Shelter, said: ‘For too long private renters have been stuck in cold, mouldy and dangerous homes, powerless for fear of being made homeless by their landlords.

‘A woeful lack of regulation, including Section 21 no-fault eviction notices and the lack of a landlord register, leaves tenants unable to hold bad landlords and their unlawful behaviour to account.’

The DLUHC told Metro: ‘The government has announced plans to create a property portal for the private rented sector.

‘We have been considering previous commitments to reform the Database of Rogue Landlords & Property Agents in this context.

‘We will publish more details on these reforms in the forthcoming White Paper.’

Shelter’s Polly Neate added: ‘The government’s promised Renters’ Reform Bill will do away with unfair evictions and empower tenants to stand up to bad behaviour and challenge nightmare conditions.

‘So, whoever becomes the next prime minister must make the Bill a reality as quickly as possible.’

A DLUHC spokesperson said: ‘We have given councils a range of tools to crack down on criminal landlords, including fines of up to £30,000, rent repayment orders and bans.

‘And our Renters’ Reform Bill will deliver a fairer deal for renters, bringing into law new measures to protect tenants and empowering them to challenge poor practice, poor housing standards and unjustified rent increases.’

‘We’ve suffered raw sewage flooding, damp and mould… and now we’re being evicted’

Ellie, who lives with her three children in a private rented house in Telford, Shropshire, is a full-time carer for her youngest daughter, who suffered a stroke at the age of 13.

‘I used to be a homeowner but we had to sell the house when I got divorced,’ said Ellie, 51. ‘When my daughter had her stroke I had to give up work to care for her full time but because that’s not paid work, I was forced to go on to benefits and the council allocated me my current house.’

It has been a nightmare from start to finish, said Ellie. ‘The property has flooded because of poor drainage 13 or 14 times in the past year. We’ve had raw sewage floating in the house and even when it’s drained, the damp has caused mould to flare up.’

Worse, Ellie’s landlord has issued her with a Section 21 no-fault eviction notice because he’s decided to sell the property.

‘Effectively we’re being made homeless,’ she said. ‘There are so few landlords in my area who will take tenants on housing benefit that the rents are extortionate.

‘I work 24 hours a day, seven days a week looking after my daughter, and yet I’m classed as unemployed. Nothing could be further from the truth.’

Rents in Ellie’s area in Telford for a four-bedroom house are anywhere between £1,200 and £2,000 a month, while her council gives her just £792 a month in housing benefit.

‘I don’t even want a four-bedroom home,’ she said. ‘But the council rules mean the three girls can’t share so we aren’t allowed to get a smaller place 
for less rent.

‘I am literally being treated as a second-class citizen because my daughter is so dependent on me. Yes, we could get carers in, but she wants her mum for all the things she needs help with, not a roster of strangers.’

Ellie has no idea what she will do when the property is finally sold. ‘I’m talking to advisers at Shelter and hope we can find a way out.’

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