A local authority controlled by the Green Party says it’s issued 550 per cent more fines against landlords in the past year than in the previous 12 month period.
In a statement, Brighton and Hove council says that between April and December last year it’s housing officials “stepped in” to request improvements to 462 privately rented homes.
Of the 462, 13 required Statutory Notices or Civil Notices to be served in order to bring about the necessary improvements.
Around a third of homes in Brighton & Hove are privately rented - that’s around 45,000 properties.
The council claims to have invested an extra £200,000 in private sector housing enforcement staff and now it is undertaking a review to see if further beefing up is required.
The review will, among other things, look at measures to reduce the risk of what the council calls ‘revenge evictions’ by serving improvement notices and emergency remedial action notices at the earliest opportunity.
And it adds: “Where there’s a history of landlords carrying out revenge evictions following repairs reports, we will serve a pre-emptive improvement notice to protect the tenant.
“We encourage any tenants to inform us as soon as possible if their private rented home needs improving, and we can discuss the steps that can be taken prior to us contacting the landlord.
“If the necessary improvements aren’t made, we will then explore taking enforcement action.”
Councillor David Gibson, co-chair of the Housing Committee, says: “We have a lot of decent landlords in the city who provide much needed homes, but we also know there are properties where standards fall short and which need repairs and improvements.
“Our priority is to raise standards in more privately rented homes in the city and make sure that tenants in the sector can live in safe, healthy and well-managed homes.
“We will always want to work with landlords to bring about improvements in the first instance
“In most cases, once our private sector housing team intervenes, landlords undertake to carry out the necessary work and we ensure they do so. If they fail to comply with what’s needed, we will then take enforcement action.
“We have already issued 550 per cent more fines this year so far compared to the previous year.
“The review of our Private Sector Enforcement Policy will enable us to look at how we can further improve our work to help tenants.”
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Mentions nothing about what they’re doing to raise the standards of social housing though - I guess that means spending money rather than taking it.
Funny how many councils are only interested in fixing the problems that result in them making more money.
This may be a controversial view but if more councils were enforcing existing legislation to clamp down on bad landlords it would, not only level the playing field for those of us who are spending to keep our properties up to scratch, but remove the pressure to add more legislation which only the good landlords attempt to comply with. That last may be wishful thinking, but it would give us more of an argument.
Although I also agree with Steve that it should apply across the board not just to PRS.
Emily
You are horribly naive. Green party is a communist front. Criminals don't bother with the law. Look at the publicity for a council estate in Barking, run by Albanian gangsters .
In Swansea some council tower blocks are becoming unihabitable due to crime and the council bleat we spent money on security doors etc.
I don't think Emily's quite sensible post in any way could be interpreted as assisting these issues which all decent landlords abhor.
As she said, there is sufficient legislation already which would allow Councils to clamp down on the rogues and criminals if they were more interested in doing so instead of raising cash from minor incursions or unnecessary licensing schemes adding to the pressure for rent increases.
My daughter was a medical student in Brighton. The standard of the student rentals was appalling. High rents and no work being done to maintain or improve the property. Where there is a high proportion of student properties I am not surprised that there is a high level of fines. Not all but many LL who rent to students do not bother to provide a good quality of accommodation and the letting agents that we have dealt with for the student properties have be less than professional. Even tried to charge us for steam cleaning of extremely cheap carpets - they counted 4 carpets in the property - there were 2 bedrooms with carpets!!! So yes I am pleased if regulation and inspection of poor properties means LL doing it on the cheap will get penalised. It is as it should be.
The other side of the coin is that student flats often need muvh more refurbishment at the end of the tenancy, which is often every year - so adding substantially to the cost of providing flats for students compared to families or professionals.
They shouldn't take on sub standard properties in the first place and in the year that they typically stay properties shouldn't deteriorate into sub standard during the tenancy.
Coupled with the complete exemption from Council Tax, payable by all other renters, students actually get a pretty good deal overall.
In my experience, having housed around 400 groups of students over the years, I haven't had too many issues with students who tend to admit to their shortcomings. It's the parents who often won't accept their responsibilities as guarantors until their credit ratings are put at risk, adding further to the cost and hassle in bringing properties back up to standard for the next group of tenants.
In Scotland, now that families can't be evicted, students have become the tenants of choice for me and many other landlords but such a policy is not without its own disadvantages, usually in the shape of the parents!
Our Government allow the Scum of the Earth into this Country and then wonder why we have such a high Crime rate, and so many criminal Landlords.
As I have mentioned previously, just check out the names of the rogue Landlords, 90% of the time they will have exotic names. It’s a “no brainer” really, but then you don’t expect joined up thinking from any Civil Servants.
Spot on there Robert but when we tell it as it is, the truth there's always the sad person screaming RACIST
Robert
You've missed the point. Life can be impossible for landlords because their is no law and order. It won't bother rogue landlords,or tenants, because they thrive in that atmosphere! It's only worthwhile for the authorities to go for decent people and catch them unaware, because they can get you to pay. Further it's a great vote getter, and ignores the elephant in the room, immigration.
Edwin, I thought that was the very point I was making.
I keep hearing about Rogue Landlords where are they or is it a catch phrase.
Surely they mean Rogue Politicians.
Robert Shread, their is more than one Robert posting. Racism is a great political tool and can be levelled at anyone, but only by the left. However rogue landlords is now the in word for another political tool. It will be used extensively!
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