Media reports from Cambridge say that rent protesters in the city are to demand the council employs staff dedicated to chasing rogue landlords and taking them to court.

Acorn – which has branches of activists across the UK, and which in some cities has been involved in protests outside landlords’ homes – says it will lobby a key committee of Cambridge council in late September. 

A spokesperson for the group tells the Cambridge Independent website: “Acorn’s next plan is to present our demands to the council at hosting scrutiny committee meeting on September 22. Our demands are that the council recruit a team of at least two employees to identify landlords of unlicensed HMOs, hold them to account and fine landlords breaking the law.”

A council spokesperson tells the website: “We have licensed over 450 properties as HMOs since 2018 when the requirements were extended to mean that rental properties with five or more tenants and fewer than three storeys became eligible for licensing as HMOs. The total number of licensed HMOs in Cambridge is now 808, and we would like to thank those landlords who have come forward.

“We estimate there may be a further 640 licensable properties, and will continue our work, including proactive inspection, to confirm that those properties are safe and suitable and whether they need to be licensed as an HMO. We eagerly await the introduction of the government’s proposed rental property portal, which will enable us to more easily identify licensable HMOs and further crack down on criminal landlords.

“It’s really important that HMOs are correctly licensed, as correct licensing ensures greater safety for tenants in their homes. If a tenant is living in a rental property that’s occupied by five or more individual ‘households’, sharing kitchen or bathroom facilities, it’s probably a licensable HMO. Tenants can check whether their accommodation is licensed by contacting our Environmental Services team, who can also investigate any safety concerns tenants may have about their rental accommodation.”

Just before the Bank Holiday weekend Acorn organised a protest in the centre of Cambridge.

A group spokesperson told the Cambridge Independent: “Licensing ensures that a basis standard of living and safety is met in HMOs, it ensures that houses are up fire, gas, and electricity standards, don’t contain dangerous hazards, gets repairs seen to and aren’t overcrowded.

“It is a legal requirement: by allowing almost half of homes landlords in Cambridge to rent without licences, the council are showing contempt for the rights of renters to live in decent conditions.”