Councils failing to use powers to tackle rogue landlords, say letting agents

Just 12 local authorities have used selective licensing powers to protect tenants, according to a survey conducted by the Association of Residential Letting Agents.

ARLA’s research comes after the government announced that it was ditching plans for regulation of the private rented sector in favour of such powers.

The Association also revealed that only 15 landlords had been prosecuted for failing to comply with licensing requirements.

“This is despite schemes which have been operational for several months having already identified landlords that are not fulfilling their responsibilities,” ARLA said.

The Association also claimed that there had been inconsistencies in the implementation of selective licensing powers, with local authorities enforcing the legislation on a region-by-region basis.

Calling for a national scheme to regulate the private rented sector, ARLA operations director Ian Potter said: “ARLA’s research highlights the low number of prosecutions and the inconsistent means by which selective licensing is enforced.

“The government’s argument that selective licensing allows local authorities to deal with the problem of rogue landlords does not stand up to scrutiny. Only a small number of local authorities operate selective licensing schemes and these have led to very few prosecutions for those landlords who do not carry out their obligations.”

Potter added that “as a bare minimum”, the obligations of councils and landlords to provide adequate protection for tenants should be strengthened.