Housing Bill Should Also Include Rogue Tenants List

The Housing and Planning Bill, which includes measures to tackle criminal landlords and letting agents, should also address the issue of problem tenants. Included in the Bill are proposals to ban and fine criminal landlords and letting agents, introduce rent repayment orders and establish a database of 'blacklisted' landlords and agents. It has been proposed that the 'blacklist' will be maintained by local housing authorities, who will also have to apply for offenders to be included in the database. The AIIC, who are calling for these measures, says it welcomes aiming to stamp out the minority of criminal operators letting property to the nation's tenants. However, the association says more could be done to highlight the issue of problem tenants. Read more on 24dash.

Private Rented Housing: Evictions – Parliamentary Written Answer

Kate Osamor:  To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to further control the ability of private landlords to evict tenants at short notice.

Brandon Lewis: The Housing and Planning Bill introduced on 13 October contains a range of measures that are intended to crack down on criminal landlords, thereby helping to improve the sector and ensure tenants get a better deal. There will be a blacklist of rogue landlords and letting agents, banning orders for the most prolific and serious offenders, civil penalties of up to £5,000 for certain breaches of housing legislation, Rent Repayment Orders to cover situations where a tenant has been illegally evicted or the landlord has failed to rectify a serious health and safety hazard in the property, and a tougher fit and proper person test for landlords letting out licensed properties, such as Houses in Multiple Occupation.

Rogue Landlords Have Little to Fear From Cash-Strapped Councils

In the battle against Britain’s rogue landlords, councils will soon be given new powers to protect local tenants. The proposals hinge on allowing councils to fine rogue landlords and keep the money instead of passing most of it back to Westminster, as is the case now. A blacklist of rogue landlords is also mooted for repeat and serious offenders, with bad landlords eventually banned from the letting industry.  The speed of the legislative fast-track is quite staggering. There is just nine or 10 weeks between the publication of the paper and the likely introduction of the housing bill in October 2015 – which is never a good sign for a new law. Read more on the Guardian website.

Rogue Landlords and Letting Agents to Get Stiffer Fines in Rental Market Shakeup

Rogue landlords and letting agents face higher fines, being potentially blacklisted from the property industry and being forced to repay rent taken since the start of a tenancy under proposals outlined by the government. One aspect of the plans – the eviction of immigrants living illegally in Britain – attracted the most headlines, but other proposals suggest that the government is considering a transformation of the private rental market. The CLG has said that the existing level of fines against rogue landlords are failing to have an impact and are just written off as a business expense.  Download the Consultation from the CLG website.