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Rogue Landlord Consultation Outcome Released
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has released the full outcome of its consultation, titled, Tackling rogue landlords and improving the private rental sector.
Rogue Landlord Consultation Outcome Released
More than 600 responses were given to the document, including one from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA).
The technical discussion paper was launched in August this year. It set out a series of questions on various measures designed to combat the worst offenders in the lettings industry. Questions included how to tackle rogue landlords and dealing with abandoned properties.
Some of its key findings are:
- 85% of respondents think that data held by tenancy deposit protection schemes should be made available to local authorities.
- 95% believe that there should be a blacklist of persistent rogue landlords and letting agents.
- 82% agree that additional criteria should be added to the fit and proper persons test for licensed properties, such as Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).
- 85% think that Rent Repayment Orders should be introduced for situations when a tenant has been illegally evicted.
- 51% believe that a proposed new process for dealing with abandoned properties would be effective. This is when a tenant disappears without reason.
Some of the measures proposed in the technical discussion document have been included as provisions in the new Housing and Planning Bill, which has passed its second reading in the House of Commons.
Chairman of ARLA, David Cox, spoke at the Public Bill Committee last week to give further evidence on behalf of ARLA members.
Of banning orders, he said: “Sales agents can already be banned under the Estate Agent Act 1979, but it’s about time that the lettings sector followed suit. The easiest solution would be to add a section to the Housing and Planning Bill, which follows a similar structure as that already provided for estate agents in the 1979 act.
“However, it’s important that the banning order is placed on individual agents, not on a company or agency, and if banned as an estate agent you should be banned as a letting agent too and visa versa.”1
The full outcome can be read here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tackling-rogue-landlords-and-improving-the-private-rental-sector
