Why EPC costs and not the Renters’ Rights Bill could collapse the private rented sector
12 months ago | 6 comments
Why are landlords expected to parent their tenants?
10:13 AM, 25th April 2025, 12 months ago
24
Sefton Council’s recent warning to private landlords has sparked outrage, and for good reason. The council insists that landlords – not the council or social landlords, naturally – must ensure their tenants dispose of rubbish correctly or face Fixed Penalty Notices of up to £400 – or even unlimited fines.
You could file this under ‘You couldn’t make it up’, but this isn’t just about fly tipping; it’s part of what appears to be a broader trend where councils are shifting responsibility onto landlords for tenants’ actions, from anti-social behaviour and now waste management.
With the Renters’ Rights Bill looming, the question is: why aren’t councils treating private tenants as responsible adults, and where do we draw the line?
Ben Beadle, the chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), hit the nail on the head when he argued that landlords cannot be held accountable for their tenants’ rubbish.
He said: “I see it in the magistrates’ court routinely, and frankly this sort of selfish behaviour should attract the proverbial book being thrown at the perpetrators.
“But I am incredulous that a landlord is responsible for the tenants’ rubbish – making a further mockery of overreaching licensing regimes.
“Sure, provide appropriate bins and other measures but other than that, we are all responsible for our own behaviour.”
Should landlords do the policing?
Yet, councils like Sefton seem to think otherwise, expecting landlords to police their tenants’ every move. This isn’t just unfair – it’s legally questionable which could see them haemorrhaging taxpayer money in court if challenged.
The fly-tipping fines are just the tip of the iceberg. Under many selective licensing schemes, landlords are required to manage anti-social behaviour (ASB) by their tenants.
This includes everything from noisy parties to more serious disturbances.
The licensing conditions demand that landlords take ‘reasonable and practical steps’ to prevent ASB, provide written action plans on demand, and even vet tenants for potential nuisance risks before granting a tenancy.
Failure to comply can lead to fines, licence revocation, or even the council taking over property management through an Interim Management Order. It’s a bureaucratic nightmare that assumes landlords have the time, resources and legal authority to act as surrogate parents.
The Renters’ Rights Bill will make things even worse.
By abolishing Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions and moving to periodic tenancies, the Bill gives tenants unprecedented security. Landlords will need to rely on grounds-based possession orders to evict tenants, which could take a year or more to process through an already clogged court system.
With court backlogs and rising legal costs which can run into thousands of pounds with no guarantee of recovery, evicting a tenant for fly-tipping or ASB will be a massive – and potentially fruitless – task.
Accountability for tenants
This begs the question: where is the accountability for tenants? Councils seem to operate on the assumption that tenants can’t be trusted to act responsibly, so landlords must bear the burden.
But this approach is flawed. Tenants are adults with legal obligations under their tenancy agreements. If they fly-tip, they should face the £400 fine, not the landlord.
If they engage in ASB, they should face consequences, not the landlord who provided them with a home.
So, congratulations to Baroness Eaton, a Conservative peer, who told the recent RRB debate: “Anti-social behaviour is a scourge on our communities, and landlords should have access to tougher powers to tackle it.
“Those with experience in local government will be well aware that when a tenant engages in anti-social behaviour, it is the landlord who faces enforcement action from the council.
“It follows, therefore, that the landlord must be equipped with the necessary powers to respond effectively.”
Holding landlords liable for tenants’ actions creates a perverse incentive: why should tenants change their behaviour if someone else is footing the bill?
Landlords are being squeezed out
Small landlords, who provide a personalised service and often go the extra mile for tenants, are being squeezed out. In their place, large corporate portfolios are growing, offering impersonal service and higher rents.
This benefits no one – neither tenants, who face a shrinking rental market, nor landlords, who are vilified and overburdened.
So, where do we draw the line? Landlords should provide safe, compliant properties and reasonable support, like bins for waste and clear tenancy terms.
Beyond that, tenants must be held accountable for their actions.
Councils need to enforce laws directly against offenders, not use landlords as a convenient scapegoat with a wallet that is ripe for the plucking.
The government must also rethink the Renters’ Rights Bill to balance tenant protections with landlords’ ability to manage their properties effectively.
Without this, the private rented sector will continue its decline, leaving tenants with fewer options and landlords with impossible responsibilities.
It’s time for Westminster to listen.
Stop treating landlords as a tenant’s ‘appropriate adult’ and start expecting grown-ups to act like grown-ups.
The alternative is a rental market that serves no one – except perhaps the egos of idealistic MPs and misguided and ill-informed tenant activist groups.
Until next time,
The Landlord Crusader
Tags:
anti-social behaviour, eviction backlog, fly-tipping fines, landlord fines, Landlords, Private Rented Sector, renters rights bill, Sefton Council, Selective Licensing, tenant responsibility, The Landlord Crusader
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Member Since April 2020 - Comments: 95
1:45 PM, 25th April 2025, About 12 months ago
Reply to the comment left by TheMaluka at 25/04/2025 – 12:28
I don’t know wether to laugh or cry, one things for sure, when private landlords have been hunted into extinction who or what will they use or blame then for idiot irresponsible people. It would do all tenants good to have to buy their own homes and look after them instead of taking the Michael out of us !
Member Since August 2022 - Comments: 100
3:40 PM, 25th April 2025, About 12 months ago
Oldham Council sent me an environmental notice threatening £2,000 fine when my tenants filled the yard with rubbish. When I cleared the rubbish, my tenants suddenly discovered that they had access to a “free” rubbish removal service.
I got them out quickly with a S21.
If the council wants to address ASB, here’s s a few suggestions:
1. fine the tenants
2. deduct the fine from their benefits
3. impose community service fror fly-tipping and get them to clean up parks and pavements
Member Since September 2018 - Comments: 3511 - Articles: 5
3:54 PM, 25th April 2025, About 12 months ago
If I rent a car to someone it doesn’t mean I am responsible for the way they drive or any fines THEY attract. The rental contact always makes it clear the hirer is responsible.
Why is it any different when someone rents a house? They signed the contract, they are expected to behave in a ‘tenant like manner’ etc. Council tax is also in tenants name so they are responsible for the local tax on the property and with that comes obligations with things like refuse etc.
In other words – take any issues up with the tenant not the LL.
Member Since December 2023 - Comments: 1574
4:50 PM, 25th April 2025, About 12 months ago
They’d have to take me to court.
I select tenants that can read the Local Authority’s website. I provide all bins that are required at the start of the tenancy. I even offer to pay for the garden waste collection.
That is the end of my involvement in the tenants’ bin collections, other than a polite letter if I’m informed that they are being a nuisance followed by a less nice letter if they ignore me the first time.
Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 3237 - Articles: 81
5:21 PM, 25th April 2025, About 12 months ago
You telling me, I’m trying to sell all me houses, some valuers are coming back at £0 cause the tenants have either wrecked em or living in pigsty.
Fitting new kitchen in house this week as promised the gal even though I’m selling, house worth 250k paying £1231 rent. No Landlord will buy on them figures, but we may just get one that may want it for himself in 5 years & buy to keep her in for a bit on low rent.
I’ve been every day to check kitchen, been asking her to get started cleaning up for new Landlords coming to buy to keep them happy, she looked at me like I asked her to commit murder. It was like the most extreme request ever to get the house sellable.
I’m also sending the below to some tenants:
Dear ,
I’m sending this letter to a few, so not everything may apply to you & your house, as I’ve not done a full as inspection as the valuer may do. But just so we have enough warning before the next valuer, can you try get your house up to the standard the valuer will accept. Otherwise we can’t do Plan A which is trying to keep you in your home. All rubbish now you can probably control & start doing. All rubbish off garden & tidied up.
Painting just quickly white all over now, may look much better for the valuer.
Anything you can do now to make it look much better, we do not want to lose these good buyer Landlords that will be keeping you in.
As you know, we trying to sell & retire, pack up cause of Govt & Council constantly changing the rules.
We are prepared to lose money on your house if we can get a good Landlord to keep you in.
At the moment, because of all the rubbish, clutter, no floor coverings etc. at the property, the valuer mortgaging the property for the lender for the new Landlord won’t value it because of the condition, floor coverings, & rubbish.
Which if the rubbish can’t be cleared & you can’t get help for the overall gardens, rubbish etc., means we will have to issue Section 21 for eviction. We don’t want to as we value this as your home, but we also can’t carry on forever. We are doing our best to keep you in by getting new Landlord to take you in your home on the same low rent.
So can you please ask all the people that help you, any Social Services etc., to see if they can assist. I can give you numbers of Licensed refuse collectors of you can pay me the money to pay them.
If the gardens & rubbish, & general upkeep can’t be sorted enough for a Valuer to say Yes this house is ok, & for the lender to then say Yes we will lend on this, then please inform your helpers, Social Workers etc. that we will have to issue possession proceedings in order to sell empty.
We REALLY don’t want to take this route, & firmly believe it can be avoided.
Another option may be for you to pay something into our bank each month towards re-doing the house up, maybe quick paint, cheap carpets, rubbish etc. which will greatly help you into getting closer to solve this.
You & your helpers can ring me any Mon to Thurs 8-3.
Yours,
Member Since July 2013 - Comments: 97
5:35 PM, 25th April 2025, About 12 months ago
(This begs the question: where is the accountability for tenants? Councils seem to operate on the assumption that tenants can’t be trusted to act responsibly.)
If that’s the case why don’t they pay the landlord direct payments of housing benefits?
Member Since April 2025 - Comments: 1
7:19 AM, 26th April 2025, About 12 months ago
Hi
I am a landlord at Northampton. I’ve been asked almost every time tenants leave Rubbsh furniture house rubbish, none sorted rubbish, outside the house to remove it.
I have no choice. I have employed people to collect the rubbish and payment with the receipt shown to the council for proof. No fault of my own plus other offences caused by the tenant like lean to Building constructed by the tenants. HOM subletting noise pollution
disturbance to the neighbours it is stressing costly business to be as a landlord Northampton B Council keep passing responsibility to the landlord in which caused by the tenants keep threatening the landlord with high penalties up to £30,000 I had to take them to court recently for accusing me of conducting home of multiple occupancy in which the tenant sub the property and create HOM, even I called on the council to investigate the house immediately when I found out they still threaten me with penalties up to £30,000 they have no shame in implicating the landlord just to achieve their objective, we are good Landlords offering homes to low income family to help the Northampton council housing people with low income on yet again the council of Northampton blame the landlord constantly with writing letters and issuing finds against the landlord no help from North Northampton Council
As a business, we have to pay our mortgages to the bank, but it’s not our responsibility to clear the mess left by tenant known to the council living in the houses
Regards Maz
Member Since November 2013 - Comments: 21
9:54 AM, 26th April 2025, About 12 months ago
Why a landlord should carry the can is beyond me.
Simple, you have got £400, the tenants probably haven’t. Also, if the tenant is a HA/council tenant will the council fine themselves???
Member Since December 2015 - Comments: 292
10:08 AM, 26th April 2025, About 12 months ago
Add all the situations you can think of into the tenancy agreement. Not just clearing rubbish but right down to picking up ANY litter no matter how it arrives from a front garden. The government loves a bit of legislation- make the T/A so long and tight it takes 8 hours and legal mind to read it. Leave no gaps for any misinterpretation.
Member Since June 2013 - Comments: 582
8:31 AM, 27th April 2025, About 12 months ago
My council ( the freeholder) came after me for allowing my tenant to have a dog in his flat and then in addition allowing that dog to defecate on the pavement 100yds from his flat ! The Dog Warden had spotted him and followed him back to his flat . They said the lease didn’t allow dogs in the flat and what the tenant did was anti social behaviour so likewise i was in breach of the lease and responsible for allowing his dog to defecate in the vicinity of the flat disturbing the neighbours.
I sarcastically said I am so sorry for not accompanying my tenant each day when he walks his dog at 7am 1pm and 8pm. I will go and buy a pooper scooper and some doggy bags today and make sure i report for duty at 7am tomorrow at his flat and also hand deliver him and get him to sign for a copy of my standard landlord leaflet on ` How to Care for your Dog` which I naturally have 50 copies of in my office which I religiously revise and update every year in accordance with government guidelines
I challenged them of course . I asked them to point to the clause in the lease saying my tenant couldn’t have a pet dog . They failed because there wasnt a clause and because they hadn’t even bothered to read the lease .
With regards to the ASB allegation I said please take me to court and let the judge decide . Not surprisingly when it went to their legal team they snorted with derision at the inexperienced council operatives decision to even consider taking this down the legal route.
The trouble I find with councils apart from their constant assumed air of superiority is they daily open themselves up for criticism due to their lack of training and employing people who routinely simply fail to be able to tick the box which asks …Have you got any common sense