The majority of local authorities in England do not accurately record the number of private rented sector tenure complaints which they receive.

The National Residential Landlords Association says that – based on Freedom of Information Act requests – 56 per cent of councils do not accurately record the number of complaints they receive concerning private rented sector housing. 

This figure rises to 61 per cent for those local authorities which have selective licensing schemes.

Amongst those local authorities which did accurately record PRS complaints which they received, each of these councils dealt with an average of 274 complaints per year.

In all, councils conducted a total of 98,858 inspections under the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System across England between 2018 to 2021. This roughly equates to just one in 45 private rented sector properties, according to our findings.

The research also shows how the recording of these inspections is not consistent across local authorities, with many councils failing to register any of their inspections.

According to the NRLA, a mere one per cent of HHSRS inspections resulted in a follow-up prosecution, with four per cent of improvement notices resulting in the imposition of a civil penalty.

Chris Norris, Director, Policy & Campaigns, at the National Residential Landlords Association, says: “What is needed in order to build a private rented sector which is fair and inclusive for all, is for councils to use all of the powers at their disposal.

“These figures show that there is a long way to go before councils deal effectively with the rogue landlords who bring the sector into disrepute.

“Until councils adopt a more effective approach towards recordkeeping, it will be impossible for them to take the steps necessary to enforce regulations.”