The government is taking steps to weed out rogue landlords and letting agents. In this month’s column, Alex Byard looks at what this means for the rest of the private rental sector…
I have heard the government is trying to tackle bad practise. What will this mean for us law abiding landlords?
The Department for Communities and local government have proposed changes to the private rental sector that they claim will “support good landlords who provide decent well maintained homes.”
Steps have already been taken to ensure rogue landlords either improve their properties or leave the business. These include:
- Making £6.7 million available to a number of local authorities where the problem of rogue landlords is most acute and complex, enabling issues such as ‘beds in sheds’ to be addressed. So far, nearly 40,000 properties have been inspected and more than 3,000 landlords are facing enforcement action or prosecution.
- Introducing measures to ensure fairness for landlords, for example, making the eviction process more straightforward. These changes will come into force next month.
- Subject to parliamentary approval, October will also see landlords required to install smoke alarms on every floor of their property and test them at the start of each new tenancy. This will extend to carbon monoxide alarms in high risk rooms.
How does the government intend to tackle the worst offenders?
A blacklist of rogue landlords and letting agents has been proposed, as well as tougher consequences for the worst offenders, such as extending rent repayment orders and introducing civil penalties.
Creating a blacklist will hopefully focus local authority enforcement action on persistent rogue landlords and letting agents. Offenders will be added if they are convicted of any crime carried out at residential premises or against a person residing at a property they own. Being found guilty of two or more relevant housing offences will also find you on the list.
In March the maximum fine for a housing offence dealt with by a magistrates’ court was lifted from £20,000 to an unlimited amount. This might seem like a significant step, but in practise the level of fines is averaging at around £1,500.
It has also been suggested that relevant housing offences should be extended to include providing a local authority with false or misleading information, permitting overcrowding and illegally evicting or harassing a residential tenant.
Does the ‘fit and proper person test’ need to be more rigorous?
The government would like the test to be stricter and less open to interpretation. It has proposed that further criteria are introduced, such as standard disclosure and barring checks on landlords, as well as enquiries to see if a civil penalty has been received for failure to carry out a right to rent check. Landlords will also be screened to ensure they are not bankrupt or insolvent and required to have an office in the UK.
Should the timescale for repossessing an abandoned property be shortened?
When tenants abandon a property, landlords suffer rent arrears and the costs of repairing damage, whilst they are left uncertain about when they can legitimately take possession. To address this problem, the government intends to reduce the amount of time involved in repossession hearings by two or three months.
The closing date for comments on the Department for Communities and local government discussion paper was August 27 and the outcome is expected very soon. For more information, visit www.gov.uk/government/consultations/tackling-rogue-landlords-and-improving-the-private-rental-sector, or contact me for advice on how to improve your service as a landlord.
For more information, telephone (0114) 218 4000, visit www.tayloremmet.co.uk.
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