'Evict rogue landlords' - Council backs Shelter campaign
Plymouth City Council is lending its support to Shelter’s ‘Evict Rogue Landlords’ campaign.
The Council is backing the campaign which calls for national action on landlords who ignore their responsibilities and cause misery to their tenants. Part of the campaign is a petition calling for a national system so landlords can demonstrate their commitment to providing quality homes and renters can check to make sure that their landlord is reputable.
A wide range of work is carried out by the Council with tenants, landlords and landlord associations to improve the quality of rented accommodation.
Councillor Chris Penberthy, Cabinet member for Co-operatives and Community Development said: “The majority of landlords do offer good quality rentals but it is not acceptable that there are some who put people’s health and lives at risk with poor accommodation.
“We are actively working with landlords and organisations to improve the condition and management of rentals but we will take legal action if necessary to protect tenants.”
Advice and guidance is provided to landlords and an accreditation scheme is run with South West Landlords Association.
Iain Maitland, Vice Chair of South West Landlords Association added: “In conjunction with Plymouth City Council, South West Landlords Association offer a one day training course which covers all aspects of a landlord’s responsibilities. Successful completion of a validation paper enables landlords to become accredited and thus demonstrate their commitment to good practice. Over 350 landlords have completed the course.”
The Council responds to complaints from tenants about poor housing conditions, carries out inspections of licensed and other houses with multiple tenants to ensure that they meet standards. Where landlords refuse to make improvements, notices are served and work is done in default and prosecutions are undertaken to protect tenants.
The Council says that last year they dealt with 806 requests for assistance and gave telephone advice to 294 people.
- 312 cases were resolved informally
- Nine statutory notices were served
- Work in default was done in two cases
- Several prosecutions in recent years for breaches of management regulations, failing to comply with improvement notices and failing to obtain the correct licences
- One interim management order was imposed on an house in multiple occupation that was not being properly managed
- 231 Category 1 hazards were removed
Campbell Robb, Shelter’s Chief Executive, said: “We are pleased to hear that Plymouth City Council is committing to firm action against rogue landlords operating in their area. Every day at Shelter we see the devastating impact rogue landlords have on people’s lives, and we’ve been campaigning to urge government and councils to crack down on this small but highly dangerous minority who make people’s lives a misery.
“We urge other councils to follow Plymouth’s lead and do everything in their power to crack down on the worst offenders in their area and stamp out rogue landlords for good.”
For more information on Shelter’s rogue landlord campaign go to www.shelter.org.uk/evictroguelandlords
