All posts by phil.turtle@landlordsdefence.co.uk

Council forgoes civil financial penalty in pursuit of...
Despite announcing in 2018 that they were now pursuing landlords for failure to licence HMOs and breaches of HMO Management Regulations under the civil penalty regime, (see £16,000 fine given for...

Demonisation and Persecution of Landlords by Shelter,
Following on from the latest article, click here, and Propertymark’s survey of its members indicates the supply of property listed by agencies has halved since 2019
This is, as we have said on...

Another Two-Faced Landlord-bashing Council outed for keeping...
The living conditions in a couple of council flats in a tower block off Regina Road in South Norwood, Croydon have been condemned as “dangerous squalor” and “appalling” in a devastating...

Birmingham City Council renting out properties they would...
Yet again two-faced Birmingham City Council has been found out for renting properties with deadly dampness and mould. If this were a private landlord they would issue them with Civil Penalty Fines...

Will helping mean prosecution by Councils?
Will helping Ukrainian refugees lead to thousands of homeowners and renters being prosecuted by councils for unlicensed HMOs (Like councils prosecuted those who housed the homeless during Covid)?

Local Authorities using Credit Checking to Trap You and...
It has come across my desk from more than one local authority and in multiple cases that the Council is checking information with Consumer Credit Reference Companies as part of their enforcement, and...

More Ways Councils Trick Landlords into being “Illegally...
Have you ever wondered why a council has an Additional HMO Licensing or Selective Licensing Scheme that expires and there is a gap before the next one? The answer is timing and nothing more sinister,

Confessions of a Council HMO Enforcement Officer...
Today we had an unusual communication: This morning was one of those mornings where you receive a message and punch your fist in the air with delight – discovering that there are still some good,

Kerching! Birmingham City Council Decides to Cash-in on...
Here we go again as yet another local authority, this time Birmingham City Council (BCC), decides to get on the gravy train which is selective licensing, with what is being touted as the largest...

Winter drawers on...
“Winter drawers on!” was the risqué chorus amongst the women on the shop-floor where I served my engineering apprenticeship, every year, as the weather started getting colder!
And that reminded...