New Crackdown On Rogue Agents To Protect Renters And Leasehold Homeowners

Almost 9 million households in England’s private rented and leasehold sectors will benefit from stronger protections against rogue letting and managing agents thanks to new government proposals. With thousands of renters and leaseholders suffering at the hands of rogue agents every day from unexpected costs, deliberately vague bills or poor quality repairs, a new mandatory code of practice is proposed to stop managing and letting agents from flouting the law. To further professionalise both sectors, letting and managing agents will be required to obtain a nationally recognised qualification to practice, with at least 1 person in every organisation required to have a higher qualification. Read more on the GovUK website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-crackdown-on-rogue-agents-to-protect-renters-and-leasehold-homeowners

Letting Agents ‘Routinely’ Flouting Fee Rules

Rules for letting agents are being routinely flouted with newly released research revealing rogue agents enjoy a very low risk of facing any penalties from councils. An investigation examined enforcement work done by the capital’s councils since new rules on displaying letting fees and membership of deposit and redress schemes were introduced in May 2015. The results show that less than one third of complaints made were acted upon. Despite 1,351 complaints made to councils about letting agents, only 444 visits were made by trading standards officers, just 462 warning letters were sent and only 52 final notices were issued. Read more on 24housing.

Landlords: Databases – Parliamentary Written Answer

Baroness Grender: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the database of rogue landlords and property agents provided for in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 will be published. Will it include all rogue landlords who have committed an offence or only those who have been banned.?

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The Government is planning to introduce the database of rogue landlords and property agents with effect from 1 October 2017. It will contain details of landlords and property agents who have been served with a banning order, or have been convicted of a banning order offence, or have received two or more civil penalties. 

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 – Parliamentary Written Answer

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure private landlords do not exploit vulnerable tenants.

Brandon Lewis: We are determined to crack down on the small number of landlords that let unsafe and sub-standard accommodation. The Housing and Planning Bill will establish tough new measures, including a database of rogue landlords and property agents, banning orders for serious or repeat offenders, a stricter fit and proper person test, extending Rent Repayment Orders and introducing civil penalties of up to £30,000. In addition, we have made nearly £12 million available to local authorities to help them tackle rogue landlords in their areas. Since 2011, nearly 40,000 inspections have taken place with over 3,000 landlords facing further enforcement action or prosecution through renting out unsafe, squalid and often illegal property.

The Housing And Planning Bill- Creating A Legal Loophole For Rogue Landlords?

Much of the focus of the Housing and Planning Bill is on the right to buy extension and the forced sale of councils’ most expensive properties.  But this is a Bill of two halves, and the other focuses on measures to tackle rogue landlords and poor conditions in the private rented sector.

These include:

·         Allowing local authorities to ban the very worst landlords and letting agents;

·         Creating a database of rogue landlords and letting agents for local authorities to access;

·         Allowing local authorities to access data on landlords from the tenancy deposit schemes to help enforce against poor conditions; and

·         Giving tenants who are illegally evicted, harassed by their landlord or forced to live in poor conditions the ability to reclaim rent paid to their landlord.

Read more on the Crisis blog.

Govt Approves Property Ombudsman to Provide Independent Redress Service

The Government has approved The Property Ombudsman (TPO) to provide a free and independent redress service to landlords and tenants, as part of new legislative changes coming into effect for lettings agents. Housing minister Kris Hopkins announced the decision as part of efforts to improve protections for tenants and landlords alike from rogue lettings agents. His announcement follows the Government’s decision to make it a legal requirement for all letting agents and property management agents in England to be a member of an approved redress scheme. It is expected that this legal obligation will come into effect later this year. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.