The new blacklist of rogue agents and landlords, introduced as part of the Housing and Planning Bill, will go a long way towards improving standards in the letting industry in England, according to PayProp.
The list, which came into play at the start of this month, gives local authorities powers to ban consistently bad landlords and agents, and impose civil penalties, as well as publish their names in a blacklist available to central and local government.
“It’s been a long time in the making, but we hope that this new development will help local authorities keep track of those acting unlawfully in the private rented sector,” said Neil Cobbold, chief operating officer of PayProp in the UK.
“Provided there are the resources available to manage and maintain the database, it could prove a valuable tool in protecting tenants from sub-standard rental accommodation and criminal operators,” he added.
However, the decision to keep database private and only accessible to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and local authorities remains controversial, and has been criticised by several trade bodies.
But while some people believe that the information should be made widely public, others argue that it should also include rogue tenants.
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Whens the list of rogue tenants coming out?
We'll be lucky. It's a one-way street without truth or balance.
We have a tenant did not pay rent for 7 months, did not pay council tax, utility bills, possibly in jails too; we have tenants refused to share reasonable cost of repairs and maintenance; we have tenants did not want to set up a standing order but always pay rent late; we have tenants deduct rent payment without having a discussion; we have tenants...etc., we can not wait to put their names on the rogue tenants list. By the way, how do we judge if the tenants are "qualified" to report any landlords as rogue landlords?
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