Housing enforcement experts slam ‘misleading’ prosecutions report

Housing enforcement experts slam ‘misleading’ prosecutions report

0:06 AM, 28th November 2024, About A week ago 1

Text Size

A leading firm of landlord and housing law experts has slammed a recent report suggesting councils in England and Wales are failing to adequately address landlord misconduct as ‘misleading and inaccurate’.

The report, published by Public Interest Lawyers, claimed nearly half a million complaints were made about landlord misconduct in five years, yet councils took fewer than 1,300 landlords to court.

The research also claimed that more than 100 councils admitted to not prosecuting a single landlord during this period.

And Public Interest Lawyers’ data shows that the average council now prosecutes just one landlord per year.

Use of Civil Financial Penalties

Phil Turtle, a director of Landlord Licensing & Defence, criticised the report for its failure to account for the significant use of Civil Financial Penalties.

This is a powerful enforcement tool allowing councils to impose fines of up to £30,000 per breach.

Mr Turtle said: “This report is so far off the mark as to be risible.

“It seems the authors don’t understand the Housing Act 2004, as amended by the Housing and Planning Act 2016.”

When a council prosecutes a landlord

He explains that when a council prosecutes a landlord, the fine goes to the Treasury – when the authorities use a civil penalty, they keep the money.

This practice has led to a significant increase in enforcement actions against landlords, Mr Turtle says – a fact overlooked by the report.

He added: “Thousands of landlords are fined every week, yet the report suggests councils are doing almost nothing.

“It’s clear the authors have a skewed view of the situation.

“While councils may not be perfect, this report is a gross misrepresentation of the reality of landlord enforcement in England and Wales.”


Share This Article


Comments

Northernpleb

Become a Member

If you login or become a member you can view this members profile, comments, posts and send them messages!

Sign Up

18:03 PM, 28th November 2024, About A week ago

I don`t know how others feel about the eye watering level of fines . and rent repayment orders we keep reading about every day.
Which is quite depressing because we never actually get the full story.

Does the level of fines imposed by the councils actually fit the crime ?
Or is it because we are private Landlords easy meat and no representation.

,

Leave Comments

In order to post comments you will need to Sign In or Sign Up for a FREE Membership

or

Don't have an account? Sign Up

Landlord Automated Assistant Read More