rogue landlords
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Products & Services
Rogue letting agent case kicks off new Channel 5 eviction documentary
Channel 5 is to launch a new documentary series on the rental sector including one case in which a long-standing and notorious rogue letting agent in Essex is featured. Called Bad Tenants, Rogue Landlords and starring eviction specialist Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action, its first episode looks at a tenant placed by rogue agent Carter Stones based in Ilford, Essex. The company, which is no longer trading and was dissolved via compulsory strike-off in September last year, has some eye-watering reviews on the allAgents.co.uk website. This includes one renter who lost £4,200 after paying a deposit and the first month’s rent for a property to Carter Stones. The firm was investigated by the BBC last month and recently expelled from both the redress and deposit protection schemes it belonged to. Harrowing tales Channel 5’s first episode of Bad Tenants, Rogue Landlords is to be screened tomorrow Thursday 5th April at 8pm and will feature harrowing stories of poor behaviour by both landlords and tenants including a bedsit fire in a poorly-maintained property in NW London and problems with squatters for a landlord in Cheshire. The episode kicks off with the Carter Stones case. It involves a tenant placed by the…
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Latest property news
Rogue agent list must be available to all says ARLA as government mulls banning orders
The government’s plans to police letting agents and landlords from the private rental market via banning orders are ‘completely illogical and defeat the purpose of the legislation’, says ARLA Propertymark in its response to the government’s recent consultation. ARLA is concerned that the database of rogue landlords and agents subject to banning orders will only be available to local authorities and the Department for Communities and Local Government. “If there is no public access to the database how will landlords or tenants know if they are using a banned agent and how do agents see if those applying for employment are blacklisted or banned,” it says. ARLA instead wants access to the database granted to industries such as it and the NAEA because “unless we are included we will not know if our members are banned or blacklisted” and be able to take the “appropriate action against any member on the list”. But ARLA is pleased that the government has consulted on which offences by landlords and agents may attract a banning order and agrees with them, although it also says that agents who do not display their letting fees or who fail to sign up to one of the…
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Housing Market
NLA rebuffs Shelter’s rogue landlords report
The National Landlords Association (NLA) has defended the private rented sector’s track record after a ‘rogue landlords report’ was released over the weekend by housing charity Shelter. It revealed that more than a million tenants in the UK have suffered illegal landlord activity over the past 12 months. The research, which was conducted among 3,250 people by YouGov, revealed that abuses include entering a property without tenant permission, threatening behaviour or harassment, disconnection of utility supplies or changing of locks without good reason, not lodging deposits correctly as well as racial, gender or nationality-based discrimination. But Richard Lambert, CEO of the NLA, says much of the blame for this lies at the feet of councils who are not enforcing the relevant laws or prosecuting landlords who break them which, he says, means “it’s way too easy for the unscrupulous to get away with this kind of behaviour”. “These [Shelter] figures highlight serious issues that are simply unacceptable but our research with tenants shows that 82 per cent say they are happy with their current landlord. Furthermore, Shelter’s figures show the vast majority of landlords to be law abiding.” Lambert also clearly believes that Shelter should also be tackling the problem of abusive…
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Latest property news
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Latest property news
Name and shame rogue landlords
Criminal landlords in London should be named and shamed according to a new RLA survey in which members backed Sadiq Khan’s plans to create a rogue landlord database.
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Latest property news
Fresh cash boost to tackle rogue landlords
The Government’s approach towards private landlords risks hurting tenants, a major property consultancy has warned, after the Housing Minister Brandon Lewis last week announced a £5 million cash boost for local authorities to tackle rogue landlords in their area. Forty-eight councils will share the funding so they can take on the irresponsible landlords that force tenants to live in squalid and dangerous properties. It is hoped that the cash will also allow councils to root out more ‘beds in sheds’. Since 2011 almost 40,000 inspections have taken place in properties with over 3,000 landlords facing further enforcement action or prosecution. The funding will allow local authorities to carry out more raids, increase inspections of property, issue more statutory notices, survey more streets and to demolish sheds and prohibited buildings. The Housing Minister said last week that the funding is part of a package of measures that will ensure millions of tenants get a better deal when they rent a home. Mr Lewis (left) said, “Many private rental tenants are happy with their home and the service they receive, but there are still rogue landlords that exploit vulnerable people and force their tenants to live in overcrowded and squalid accommodation. “We…
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Latest property news
£30k fines for rogue landlords… says Brandon Lewis, Minister for Housing
Good news for good letting agents and landlords! Brandon Lewis, Minister for Housing and Planning, took to facebook and Twitter on Sunday 20th December, to say, “We are determined to crack down on rogue landlords and to ensure a high quality, private rented sector. Good for tenants and good for the majority of excellent landlords.” Oddly, though, the launchpad for this latest package of measures was The Sun newspaper. The Sun reported: “Landlords who let out filthy or unsafe homes will face fines of up to £30,000 under new laws to be unveiled this week. Housing Minister Brandon Lewis will announce the biggest package of measures to drive out rogue property owners and agents Council chiefs will be able to slap a new civil penalty notice on offenders to provide an instant deterrent for criminal operators. Fines will be upped for failing to take action on overcrowding, hazardous conditions, poor sanitation, electrical faults, damp and vermin infestation. Measures to be introduced in the Housing and Planning Bill will go further to ensure landlords and agents who repeatedly break the rules will be banned for at least 12 months. A database of rogue landlords and letting agents will also be available…
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Latest property news
New measures to clamp down on rogue landlords
Fresh proposals designed to crackdown on rogue landlords who force susceptible tenants to reside in substandard, overcrowded properties, have been announced by the Housing Minister Brandon Lewis. The suggestions made by the DCLG and the Housing Minister intend to make it easier for local authorities to raise standards in houses used as shared homes by extending mandatory licensing to smaller and medium sized properties, in order to bring an end to callous landlords who exploit their tenants and charge them extortionate rents to live in cramped conditions. The existing rules apply to homes of three storeys, but it has now been suggested that the rules also apply to more shared homes, including those that are one-two storeys, as well as poorly converted blocks of flats and flats above and below shops, while Mr Lewis also wants to set a minimum size of rooms in line with existing overcrowding standards. Additionally, the Government is reviewing the information requirements when applying for a licence in order to simplify and speed up the process. The discussion paper is available to view at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/extending-mandatory-licensing-of-houses-in-multiple-occupation-and-related-reforms. Responses are due on 18th December 2015. The Housing Minister (left), who was a keynote speaker at The Negotiator Conference…
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