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How successful has Khan’s rogue letting agent checker really been?

Mayor has been bragging on Twitter about the success of his online tool since launching it last May but has been choosy about which data to promote.

Nigel Lewis

sadiq khan

The limited success of an online checking tool for tenants has been revealed in data released via social media by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

In a series of half a dozen tweets Khan has boasted about the significant success of the online tool, which enables tenants in the capital to check if a prospective landlord or letting agent has been fined or prosecuted in the past.

Sadiq Khan says his service has been used 1,500 since it launched 20 months ago to help tenants check a company or landlord and that the platform’s website has been visited 185,000 times.

Latest list

But a link on the Mayor of London’s own website links to a database that shows the ‘latest list’ contains only 377 records and just 200 different landlords and letting agents.

The checker also enables both members of the public and police officers to report individuals and companies to the mayor.

“Londoners deserve protection from rogue landlords,” says Khan. “That’s why we introduced the Rogue Landlord Checker to name and shame private landlords and agents who have acted illegally.”

The low numbers involved is due to the limited scope of the checker. Many of the reports made to the platform don’t fall into its remit because only agents or landlords who have been successfully prosecuted by a council or the fire brigade are included or expelled from a redress scheme.

Also, the length of time a company or appears on the ‘rogue directory’ varies wildly too depending on how serious their offence, ranging from one to ten years.

Read more about the Mayor of London.

 

 

 

December 17, 2019

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