Zero entries in government ‘Rogue Landlord’ database

Zero entries in government ‘Rogue Landlord’ database

15:02 PM, 24th October 2018, About 6 years ago 7

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It has been revealed by the Guardian and ITV News that the hidden government database of registered ‘banned landlords’ has remained empty. This was verified by independent means after two FOI requests got the response that the database contents should remain a secret and the reason they should remain a secret is a secret. Click here to see the full article as it all sounds very “Yes Minister”.

ARLA chief executive, David Cox, said: “This is a truly ridiculous piece of legislation. There are no legal reasons for this database being kept secret. How on earth is a tenant supposed to know if a landlord has been banned? Also, professional bodies like ours may inadvertently endorse a banned landlord or letting agent by accepting them as a member.”

The government had previously estimated that there were 10,500 considered ‘rogue landlords’ operating in England and that at least 600 of the worst would be added on to the database.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) confirmed there had not been time for councils to convict rogue landlords of the offences that could result in their names being entered on the database, but they would start to be added next year.

They also confirmed they were now investigating further options for making information contained with the database available to prospective and existing tenants.


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Comments

Larry Sweeney

0:41 AM, 25th October 2018, About 6 years ago

Great comment from MR Cox of ARLA. Great that he is concerned about the down trodden abused unfortunate tenants. What about Landlords up and down the land struggling to stay afloat ,being taxed on non existent income S24 and dealing with Rogue Councils and Delinquent tenants. We say to ARLA ,enough is enough. Make up your mind which side of the fence you wish to habitate. New Regime now. The Alliance is here. Start calling out unfairness and Rogue tenants. We have not launched yet and unfortunately ARLA is in our sights. Stop hating the PRS. Most Landlords are great as are most decent tenants. Stop the hating , stop your cheap shots. We are now in town and really represent the sector ,forget the other lackeys. The New Alliance will not tolerate the unfair abusive attacks on ordinary hard working tax compliant landlords. We will not accept this and we Put ARLA on notice. Change your attitude or deal with the Alliance.

Seething Landlord

10:44 AM, 25th October 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Larry Sweeney at 25/10/2018 - 00:41
I was not aware that part of the role of the new Alliance would be to protect the identity of rogue landlords.

Annie Landlord

11:07 AM, 25th October 2018, About 6 years ago

Nor that Wyatt Earp was 'in town'

Annie Landlord

11:10 AM, 25th October 2018, About 6 years ago

Provided the landlords entered on the database have been through the courts and been banned I see no reason why the database should not be public. Otherwise, its a pointless piece of legislation

Seething Landlord

13:12 PM, 25th October 2018, About 6 years ago

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/oct/24/government-policing-of-rogue-landlords-labelled-pathetic - this further article on the same topis opens with:
Theresa May has pledged to give tenants access to the government’s new rogue landlord database after a Guardian and ITV News investigation revealed that not a single name had been entered into the system in more than six months since its launch – and that even when landlords’ names were listed, the public would not be allowed to see them.

In a swift U-turn, the prime minister’s official spokesman said on Wednesday: “Our rogue landlord database has only been in place since April and has been warmly welcomed by councils as an important enforcement tool.

“As we have said, only offences committed from April this year can be included, and it can take several months to secure convictions. We are clear that we expect to see entries in the database from the new year. We also intend to make information in the database available to prospective and existing tenants.”

Seething Landlord

13:20 PM, 25th October 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Larry Sweeney at 25/10/2018 - 00:41
Exactly why should we expect Letting Agents to be on one side or the other? They represent both and probably have a slightly more balanced view. Is it really necessary to see every comment as an attack on the PRS? #paranoia

Question Everything

20:58 PM, 25th October 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 25/10/2018 - 13:20
How do they represent tenants? We are their clients. They only charge (currently) a tenant fees for being "finders" but I can't imagine how a tenant could be a client to an agent when the tenant has no business. Unless the "tenant client" is for example the NHS, but even then the agent would largely work with their pool of landlord clients. So they largely should absolutely be on our side because that is the side their bread is buttered.

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