DCLG to publish further guidance on how councils can tackle rogue landlords

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has promised to publish extra guidance for local authorities on how to push for harsher penalties for private landlords who have committed housing offences.

Announcing a package of measures affecting the private rented sector, Eric Pickles said the guidance would also cover how councils can protect tenants from illegal eviction.

The guidance will go on to set out how local authorities should plan for new private rented developments in the future, including on their own land.

Other measures announced by Pickles and relevant to councils include a review by the Government of the process by which tenants can raise concerns about the standard of their private rented property. This will look at the response they should expect from their council – “which is not widely understood” – in enforcing standards of safety and hygiene.

This review will also look at how landlords might be required to repay rent where a property is found to have serious hazards.

“This could include allowing councils to recoup housing benefit so that taxpayers’ money is not used to support landlords who provide sub-standard property,” the Department for Communities and Local Government said.

The DCLG said the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 would provide Magistrates’ Courts with the power to impose unlimited fines on landlords who are found guilty of not meeting their statutory responsibilities.

“These powers will be complemented by Schedule 16 to the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which will allow the courts to take account of an offender's assets as well as his income which will help tackle rogue landlords who have limited documented income but significant assets,” it added.

A £3m fund is meanwhile to be made available for councils to tackle problems with rogue landlords, building on work done to tackle the issue of ‘beds in sheds’.

The package of measures also includes the publication in the future of:

  • New regulations that will force letting and property management agents to join a compulsory redress scheme. The DCLG said 3,000 agents, or 40% of the entire industry, areyet to join one of the schemes.
  • A new code of practice setting standards for the management of property in the private rented sector, “with a view to making it statutory to provide greater confidence for tenants in what they can expect”.
  • A draft of a new tenant’s charter. “The charter will help tenants understand what they should expect from their rental deal, and how they can take action if they are the victim of hidden fees or poor standards of accommodation.”
  • A timetable for the introduction of a model tenancy agreement, which landlords can use to offer longer tenancies of three years or more, “which will, provide extra security and stability for families”.

Eric Pickles said: “[These] proposals will raise the quality and choice of rental accommodation, and sharpen the tools available to tenants and councils so we can root out the cowboys and rogue operators in the sector.

“These measures will also give tenants the know-how to demand longer-term tenancies that cut costs and meet their needs - and when things do go wrong, the confidence to take action without fear of eviction or harassment.”