Rogue landlords are not welcome at the best of times, mostly because
they bring the private rental market into disrepute and give good
landlords a bad name. But one council has gone a step further by
publicly supporting a leading housing charity’ and its ‘Evict Rogue
Landlords’ campaign.
Campaign to protect vulnerable tenants
Shelter’s campaign is targeting rogue landlords who prey on
vulnerable tenants and fail to provide a decent standard of housing
to those most in need. The housing charity believes that many
landlords in the private sector are not offering the right level of
accommodation to tenants. But whilst this is not good, there are also
a small minority are deliberately providing sub-standard homes to
people who are least likely to complain.
Shelter wants action
The charity wants councils to take a number of proactive approaches
to stamping out rogue landlords in their areas. These include a
regular system of inspections, the introduction of landlord
accreditation schemes, and enforcing the law where necessary.
Hastings council is very much in favour of this:
“All of these actions Shelter wishes good councils to take, we are
already taking.”
Government pledges money to tackle rogue landlords
The government is also keen to eradicate rogue landlords and ‘beds in
sheds’, which has become a problem in many parts of the UK in recent
times. It intends to set up a dedicated taskforce with a budget £1.8
million. There has also been talk of removing limits on fines handed
out to rogue landlords in an attempt to discourage the practice.
