Reforms to the private rented sector will fail without a proper plan to improve enforcement against rogue and criminal landlords.

That’s the warning from the body representing responsible landlords as Peers prepare to debate the detail of the Renters’ Rights Bill.

The Bill includes major changes which councils will need to enforce. This includes a decent homes standard for the sector, measures to tackle dangerous damp and mould in homes, and the development of a new database of private rented housing.

In a report published today the National Residential Landlords Association points to the pressures councils are already under even before the Bill is implemented.

Freedom of Information data shows that less than half of all fines levied against rogue landlords in England were collected between 2021 and 2023.  Meanwhile, 49% of English councils had failed to issue a single fine against a rogue landlord during this time.

The Renters’ Rights Bill comes amidst a backdrop of one in four councils in England saying they will likely have to apply for emergency Government bailouts to stave off bankruptcy.

Councils are also being expected to do more at a time when many are already struggling to cope with the impact of reforms to the way they are organised, pressures to get more homes built, and the ongoing crisis in the adult social care system. 

The NRLA is warning that councils will struggle to provide the time, focus or resources needed to enforce the Bill and tackle the minority of landlords bringing the sector into disrepute.

To address this, the NRLA is calling for:

• The government to publish a full assessment of the resources local authority enforcement teams currently have, and will need, to enforce what is proposed in the Renters’ Rights Bill;

• Councils to be required to publish an annual report on enforcement activity related to the private rented sector;

• Measures to prevent duplication of efforts between the planned database of private sector landlords and properties and local landlord licensing schemes;

• The development of a new national post of Chief Environmental Health Officer to champion better enforcement.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, says: “For too long the vast majority of decent, responsible landlords have been tarnished by the actions of a minority of rogue operators failing to provide good enough housing.

“If planned reforms are to work, councils need to up their game at finding and rooting out those who have no place renting property out and making it easier for the law-abiding majority providing decent and safe homes.

“Our report today suggests local authorities will struggle to enforce much of what is in the Renters’ Rights Bill. Without further action, the only winners from all this will be the minority of unscrupulous landlords.”