Landlords will be targeted for minor issues in a draconian move that will see council officers targeting law-abiding landlords.
That’s the claim from the Landlord Licensing & Defence organisation following a new amendment to the Renters’ Rights Bill, ecently agreed by the House of Lords.
It gives local councils the power to conduct surprise inspections on private rented properties without giving notice to landlords.
While aimed at ensuring compliance with housing regulations, critics warn these changes could lead to increased targeting of landlords and hefty fines for minor infractions.
Under the new provisions, councils would not have to give landlords 24 hours’ notice before entering properties for enforcement inspections.
The notice requirement will still apply to tenants.
Instead, landlords will be informed within a ‘reasonable amount of time’ after the inspection has occurred.
However, this shift has raised alarm among landlord law experts who argue that councils already exploit existing powers to conduct unannounced visits. Phil Turtle, a director at Landlord Licensing & Defence, says: “Councils have been carrying out surprise inspections for years, often under the flimsiest of pretexts. They claim suspicion of unlicensed properties or breaches of regulations to justify unannounced visits, sometimes arriving at 5am with eight officers dressed in uniforms resembling those of the police.
“These tactics are designed to intimidate tenants, and the Renters Rights Bill only legitimises this behaviour, giving councils even more scope to target landlords.”
He claims that current laws, including the Housing Act 2004 and the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, already allow councils to enter properties without notice in cases of suspected offences. These include entering unlicensed properties or looking for breaches of licence conditions.
And he warns that council officers frequently use these powers to ‘catch out’ landlords for minor issues, such as incomplete paperwork, which, under the Bill, can result in fines of up to £40,000.
“This has little to do with tackling rogue landlords. Councils use these powers daily to penalise landlords who may not have everything 100% perfect. t’s a system ripe for abuse, with officers acting like bullies to extract fines.”
He adds: “Some even boast they have more powers of entry than the police. Council officers are already overplaying their hand to intimidate tenants and with the new rules, I shudder to think what might happen, but the rules will be exploited.”
This article is taken from Landlord Today