Landlords — one letter away from criminal status?

Never in the history of rental property has so much damage been done by so few to so many.

It is now evident it’s not just bad landlords that are being impacted, but all landlords and all tenants, literally millions of people. By treating landlords as serious criminals for not sending a four-page letter to their tenants (which can easily be found on the internet)

Then, imposing a fine of £7000 for each failure, the government is categorising a section of the population with unprecedented punitive threats. It’s quite remarkable but incredibly damaging to the whole rental industry.

The failure to send the letter immediately puts you, one of the good landlords who has got on just fine with your tenants for years, in the category 5 criminal bracket. You may then be treated akin to a criminal who does the following:

Firearms & Prohibited Weapons: A criminal who manufactures, sells, or imports realistic imitation firearms can attract maximum Level 5 summary penalties.

Wildlife & Animal Offences: The maximum summary conviction fine for a criminal who commits severe wildlife crimes, such as the illegal trade of endangered species, starts at Level 5.

Corporate Health & Safety: Under Sentencing Council guidelines, micro-businesses or small companies that commit Category 4 health and safety breaches with low culpability frequently receive starting-point fines in the region of £7,000.

Selling unlawful knives to persons under 18 can incur Level 5.

Environmental & Waste Crimes: Certain commercial waste disposal or landfill breaches (such as accepting prohibited waste) can result in standard fixed penalties or court-mandated fines starting in the thousands.

Having thrown the board over in this vitriolic attack, what accountability and success criteria are there for ministers to show how they have improved the rental market? After all, ministers are obliged to act in a fit and proper way and thus should be measured.

It seems reasonable to ask how the success of this clandestine policy will be evaluated and how accountability will be targeted to those responsible for the impending chaos.

There are some bad landlords and some bad tenants, but the Renters’ Rights Act appears wholly unsuitable as an effective solution.

What does the Property118 community think?

Thanks,

Paul