LGA - Councils call for fairer and more streamlined system to tackle criminal landlords
18 Jun 2014 10:41 AM
Tougher fines and a more
streamlined prosecution system are needed to tackle rogue landlords who are
putting tenants' lives at risk.
The Local Government Association
(LGA) – which represents almost 400 councils in England and Wales –
says that while most landlords are reputable, a criminal minority view fines as
‘operating costs', to be offset against their profits from exploiting
tenants by renting sub-standard properties.
The LGA says councils are doing
everything they can to tackle rogue operators, but they are being hamstrung by
a system "not fit for the 21st century". It is calling for a
streamlined system, which is fairer, faster, simpler, and awards proportionate
fines to criminal landlords and the full costs of bringing the prosecutions to
councils.
New LGA research finds it can
take up to 16 months to prosecute a rogue operator. In almost three-quarters of
cases, the average fine for a criminal landlord – many of whom are
accruing large profits every year while tenants live in dangerous conditions
– was £5,000 or less. One landlord received a fine of £100 in
a case where six tenants were left living in a property for a year without fire
alarms or proper escape routes. In another example, the property did not have
secured front doors and tenants discovered strangers sleeping on their
sofas.
The LGA has also uncovered
evidence that some landlords are not turning up to property inspections,
causing further delays because the council is forced to apply for
warrants.
The prosecution system is hugely
complex and bureaucratic with councils having to adhere to a labyrinth of laws.
Fines are far too inconsistent, with no correlation between housing conditions
or the number of tenants involved, and councils are often left out of pocket
because courts do not even cover the costs of prosecution. Under the current
system, local authorities can only claim costs in court from when the offence
is discovered.
Councils will do everything they
can to try and work with landlords to improve an ‘unfit' property and
prosecution is seen as very much a last resort.
While the LGA supports
government proposals to raise the limit of fines magistrates can impose, it
wants them applied consistently, and proportionate to the crime and threat to
life from dangerous properties.
Cllr Mike Jones, Chairman of the
Local Government Association's Environment and Housing Board, said:
"The current system for prosecuting rogue landlords is not fit for the
21st century. Criminal landlords are exploiting this and endangering
tenants' lives. They are treating the fines as ‘operating costs',
which they are offsetting against the profits they are raking in. We need a
system which protects the good landlords, whose reputation is being dragged
down by the bad ones.
"Councils are doing
everything they can to tackle the rising levels of rogue landlords caused by
the housing crisis. However, they are being hamstrung by a system wracked by
delays, bureaucracy and feeble fines.
"We need a new streamlined
system which is much fairer, faster, more efficient and treats the criminal
abuse of tenants seriously. Prosecution in its current state simply is not seen
as an effective deterrent by rogue operators.
"We are talking about
properties with fire escape doors opening out onto three storey drops and
without proper front doors so tenants have discovered strangers sleeping on
their sofas. Rogue landlords are calculating they can keep these going while
the cash comes in and walk away after a year with effectively a slap on the
wrist.
"While most landlords are
reputable – and local authorities want to work with them – they are
a growing minority of criminal operators and the current system simply is not
designed to tackle them effectively.
"In many cases, councils
are actually being left out of pocket because they are not even recovering the
costs of bringing the prosecutions. It is imperative this changes because, at a
time of unprecedented austerity, ultimately the taxpayer foots the
bill."
Prosecuting
private landlords for poor property conditions – Research
report
Case studies
Wolverhampton City
Council made an emergency prohibition order evacuating tenants
from one house because it was so dangerous. There were 11 serious
contraventions, including no electricity, gas, water; fire escapes missing so
doors opened onto an outside drop of three stories; no fire alarm or fire
doors. The front door could not be locked and a stranger was found sleeping on
a tenant's sofa. The landlord was fined just £2,600 and the council
was left out of pocket by almost £5,500 from costs.
Redbridge
Council
A landlord who failed to comply with an improvement notice for a mice and
cockroach-infested house was fined just £3,000. Ten tenants, including
two children, were forced to share a damp and mouldy kitchen and wait 10 months
for the work to carried out.
Coventry City
Council
A landlord was fined just £100 for a property after six tenants were
forced to live in a property for 12 months without fire alarms and a proper
escape route. The landlord had failed to comply with an improvement
notice.