Thousands of tenants lives threatened by rogue landlords

Published by 24publishing for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Communities, Health

The lives of thousands of tenants are being put at risk by England's rogue landlords, a report has revealed.

Councils received 85,000 complaints against landlords last year, 62% of which concerned serious and life-threatening hazards.

The research by homeless charity Shelter shows that landlord complaints have risen by almost 30% in the last three years.

There were 487 successful prosecutions against private landlords last year, an increase of 77%.

Shelter is now urging people to contact their council and demand that they stamp out rogue landlords.

Campbell Robb, Shelter’s Chief Executive, said: "Despite the significant increase in complaints, we believe that the number of rogue landlords is still underestimated – some local authorities don’t keep records of complaints and tenants often hold back from complaining out of fear of the consequences or because they don’t believe their voices will be heard, even though such a high proportion of complaints are about life-threatening issues."

Jack Dromey MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Minister, responding to the report, said: “These shocking statistics highlight the growing abuse tenants face from rogue landlords in the private rented sector. It is absolutely wrong that tenants have no protections against rogue landlords who make their lives a misery.

"These figures should be a wake-up call to the government and the new Housing Minister, Mark Prisk. They should change course and implement those protections rolled back by his predecessor."