London Mayor Sadiq Khan has praised tenants in the capital for using a register that names and shames rogue landlords – and he wants the government to use it as a model for the whole UK.

Khan describes his Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker as “a unique database that ‘names and shames’ landlords and lettings agents who have been successfully prosecuted or have faced civil enforcement action for housing offences” and says it’s now been used more than 388,000 times. 

Meanwhile his Property Licence Checker, launched in November 2020 to allow Londoners to find out if their rental property is properly licenced, has been accessed more than 125,000 times. 

Ands on top of that over 6,000 Londoners have now used the Mayor’s Report a Rogue tool, launched in autumn 2017, to report concerns or problems with a rental property or landlord directly to enforcement teams in the relevant borough council. 

Khan insists that these usage figures show how concerned Londoners are about the condition of the properties they are renting and the credentials of the people they are renting from.

He now wants a National Rogue Landlord Database and he’s calling for the amount that tenants can claim back if their home isn’t up to scratch doubled – to two years’ worth of rent – for the worst properties, which pose a risk of death or serious injury. 

In a statement he reiterates his belief that renters would feel more secure raising complaints about the condition of their property if they didn’t face “the threat of arbitrary eviction, which is why the Mayor has long called for Section 21.”

Khan himself comments: “I’m determined to continue standing up for London’s renters by cracking down on rogue landlords. London’s 2.6m private renters deserve a decent home at an affordable price, let from a fair and honest landlord. The fact that my online tools to root out unscrupulous behaviour of landlords have been used hundreds of thousands of times is a sad indictment of the state of the London rental sector. 

“However, I am pleased to see tenants using these tools to help them avoid dodgy landlords and to stand up for themselves when they are being mistreated or misled.

“If we are to continue building a better London for everyone, it’s essential that we continue to stand up for and empower renters. We’re doing everything we can in London, but we also need the Government to step up. This must include creating the long-promised National Rogue Landlord database, properly funding borough enforcement teams and increasing the fines for landlords who break the rules.”