New measures to tackle rogue landlords

New measures to tackle rogue landlords have been adopted by Shropshire Council.

The government adopted new measures which could see private landlords facing civil fines of up to £30,000 last year.

Now Shropshire Council has adopted the measures under the Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy.

The decision will go out to public consultation for the next eight weeks.

The council’s Cabinet voted to adopt the measures at a meeting at Shirehall.

Councillor Lee Chapman, portfolio holder, said: “We don’t want to seem like we are saying there are bad private landlords across Shropshire. Indeed there are many very good ones.

“This is just to ensure that if there are certain rogue landlords who come to light, we are in a position to tackle them appropriately and robustly.”

Members passed the motion unanimously.

The report to Cabinet said: “In Shropshire, the private rented sector represents 16 per cent of the housing market (approximately 22,000 properties).

“Although Shropshire has some excellent landlords and letting agents, there are criminal, rogue and irresponsible landlords who knowingly rent out accommodation that is unlicensed, substandard and or unsafe.

“The government has pledged to crack down on rogue landlords and has introduced a number of measures, under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, to help local authorities deal more robustly with criminal, rogue and irresponsible landlords.”

These include: civil penalties of up to £30,000 as an alternative to prosecution for certain specified offences; the extension of rent repayment orders to cover illegal eviction, breach of a banning order, failure to comply with an improvement notice and certain other specified offences; the creation of a database of rogue landlords and property agents who have been convicted of certain offences or received multiple civil penalties; and banning orders for the most serious and prolific offenders.