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Local authorities fail to record private rental sector complaints, says NRLA
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Most local authorities in England do not accurately record the number of private rental sector (PRS) tenure complaints that they receive, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) reports.
Its research, based on Freedom of Information Act requests, indicates that 56% of councils do not accurately record the number of complaints they receive concerning PRS housing. This figure rises to 61% for those local authorities which have selective licensing schemes.
The local authorities that did accurately record PRS complaints reportedly dealt with an average of 274 complaints per year.
Councils conducted a total of 98,858 inspections under the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) across England between 2018 to 2021, says the NRLA. According to its findings, this roughly equates to just 1 in 45 PRS properties.
It also shows how the recording of these inspections is not consistent across local authorities, with many councils failing to register any of their inspections. The NRLA says only 1% of HHSRS inspections resulted in a follow-up prosecution, with 4% of improvement notices resulting in the imposition of a civil penalty.
Chris Norris, Director of Policy & Campaigns for the NRLA, comments: “What is needed in order to build a private rented sector which is fair and inclusive for all, is for councils to use all of the powers at their disposal.
“These figures show that there is a long way to go before councils deal effectively with the rogue landlords who bring the sector into disrepute.
“Until councils adopt a more effective approach towards record-keeping, it will be impossible for them to take the steps necessary to enforce regulations.”
