The head of a redress services has backed council licensing and the government’s new mandatory database to help stop rogue landlords.
Sean Hooker, head of redress at Property Redress, says: “Licensing schemes are increasingly common and, where properly enforced, they have raised standards. However, this depends heavily on how well local authorities are resourced and how effectively they work with the rental community to create a collaborative and cooperative landscape.
“… The proposed private rented sector database, which will require all rental properties to be registered nationally, has huge potential to make a difference if rolled out effectively.
“Better data sharing would enable authorities to focus on where criminality is going under the radar. There is also an ongoing need to help educate tenants about their rights, where to access help and to reduce the fear that making a complaint will leave them homeless.”
Hooker’s comments come in response to a shocking BBC programme on illegal HMOs in London.
The BBC says it uncovered “a widespread black market rental sector where people are forced to live in unsafe spaces.”
It continues: “Photos, videos and testimony from the people living in several properties like these showed unsanitary and overcrowded homes, with adults sleeping on bare mattresses in bunk beds, contending with black mould, rats and, in some cases, conditions that proved to be deadly.
“….Evidence in three London house-share hotspots we examined suggests that in some places there are more unlicensed, black-market HMOs than there are legal ones. One London borough told us it has 3,000 licensed HMOs, but estimates there are two or three times that number in reality.”
Hooker paints a bleak picture of the rental landscape once the Renters Rights Bill becomes law, if it’s tougher measures are not enforced effectively by councils.
He says: “We know that when rules are tightened, the worst offenders simply find new ways to bypass them.
“Once the Renters Rights Bill becomes law, it is likely we will see a rise in creative criminal practices such as sham licences, illegal subletting, and exploitative rent-to-rent arrangements.
“Until we can clearly distinguish between what a safe, transparent and well-regulated sector looks like, and shine a beacon on this, the rogue element will continue to operate in the shadows, endangering tenants and destroying the reputation of those who play by the book.”
This article is taken from Landlord Today