Private landlords guilty of serious safety breaches have been named and shamed on a publicly accessible database. The database has been created by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health magazine and maps the landlords and firms that have been convicted under the Housing Act 2004. Now that this data is in the public realm, tenants will be able to check whether their landlord or letting agent has been prosecuted.
Pigeon Infestation
In total, the database lists 57 companies that are responsible for a total of 68 offences. The worst offender on the list is Aspire Group Developments – they have been prosecuted five times for various offences, including a failure to make repairs to a property infested with pigeons. Despite this, the firm appears to do remarkably well from the public purse because it received more than £184k in housing benefit in 2013.
The two firms with the dubious honour of attracting the highest fines are Watchstar Ltd and Watchacre Ltd, both owned by the same man. Haringey Council branded him a rogue landlord in 2013 and he was fined £40k for renting out flats in an “appalling and dangerous state of repair”.
Database Useful for Councils
Generation Rent says the database will be very useful for councils and tenants and should enable rogue landlords to be driven out of the marketplace.
“As more authorities introduce licensing and identify criminal landlords, they will start to be driven out of certain areas so neighbouring councils need the means to stop those landlords exploiting their residents,” said Alex Hilton, the director of the Generation Rent.
However, as the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health points out, prosecutions are only the tip of the iceberg and many landlords get away with flouting the law.
