Shock new information gathered by the NRLA reveals that less than half of the fines imposed on rogue landlords are actually collected.

Local councils, which are responsible for making sure landlords pay fines, have only manged to bring in £6 million out of £13 million owed.

The news of the fines failures comes just days after it was revealed a Government blacklist of dodgy landlords and letting agent firms or individuals was ‘still empty’ six years after it was first set up.

£30k fines

Local authorities can issue civil penalties of up to £30,000 for offences committed by rogue landlords.

The data obtained by the NRLA in a Freedom of Information request that covers the period from 2021-23, also reveals almost half of local authorities (49%) have not issued any civil penalties between, whilst 69% had issued just five or less.

The NRLA is now calling for the creation of a new national officer to ‘lead the charge’ for improved enforcement against rogue and criminal landlords.

Tackling them [rogue landlords] should be a high priority for councils.”

Ben Beadle, CEO at the NRLA, says: “Rogue and criminal landlords cause misery for their tenants and undermine the reputation of the responsible majority. Tackling them should be a high priority for councils.

“At a time of tight budgets, it is strange that councils are failing to collect the fines levied on those landlords failing to do the right thing.”

Empty database

Research by The Sun newspaper showed that the Rogue Landlords Database only contains the details of 49 individuals and companies.

And only 27 local councils have added any names, with more than half of those authorities only including one entry.

It has been mandatory for housing authorities to report when a landlord or property agent has received a banning order since enforcement rules were introduced in April 2018.