£30k fines for rogue landlords under new laws...

John Hughes
22 December 2015 09:49 AM

Another day another proposal?
Most of these rogue landlords rent out for cash and are 'off the radar'.
I am all for 'weeding them out', but I would like to know how effective these new measures are going to be?
Tenants who live in these properties are unlikely to shop the landlord as they are usually paying below market rent. Also, quite a few of the tenants in overcrowded properties are of Eastern European extract and they are not aware of the rules and choose to live in cramped conditions so that they can maximise the amount of money they send home.

Jalpesh Thakrar
22 December 2015 10:31 AM

The biggest issue I find is with illegal subletting and short let's which allows rogue tenants to rent to as many residents as they like saying they are friends of the family and take cash. There is no sufficent law to bring these people to justice and remove tenants quick enough. Can a landlord be responsible then for illegal subletting by thier tenants and no law to protect the landlord. Also a big security risk in today's world where the landlord does not even then know or have the ID of the people living in thier properties when being sublett. Government needs to act and make this a criminal offence and be able to arrest Rouge tenants for persistent subletting and remove people from living in landlords properties who have rented illegally without the landlord having to suffer at every stage. Most private landlords have worked hard to sacrifice and pay taxes to be able to afford a house to the rent and follow all the regulations as thier property is one of the biggest assets they own and would want to take care of this. But instead are hit time after time without any protection to them. We need a fairer system NOW. This may not win votes hence the government does not act.

Peter Lassman
22 December 2015 17:43 PM

How pathetic are the Council and the Government, they set a low fine limit of £1500 and expect us to applaud them when they realise their lever is futile and far too low to have any effect on so called Rogue Landlords, the power to fine higher for bad properties has been around for a long time the council need to grow Balls and weed out these Rogues by hitting them where it hurts, IN THE POCKET, IN THE POCKET, if i say it twice it might get heard,and sort the problem out and then Councils and the Government might stop attacking Private Landlords as a whole and accept that without us their system would fall to bits and come CRASHING around their Necks as they could not cope and would have no way of housing all the now Evicted Tenants if Private Landlords did not exist, they should Embrace us and stop kicking and picking on us

John Hughes
23 December 2015 11:39 AM

Absolutely Peter, unfortunately it is 'open season' on landlords at the moment with proposal after proposal coming out from government and local authorities and it is the genuine landlords that often suffer with increased regulation and bureaucracy?

Bob Leydon MARLA
23 December 2015 23:00 PM

I favour any legislation that helps to make the lettings market a safer level playing field. Presently the compliant lettings agents and landlords spend disproportionally more time and money achieving such compliance. Meanwhile those less conscientious, reason that statistically, they are unlikely to ever get caught, therefore, they do not need to prioritise safety. Ordinarily I would say, "safety - bring it on!" However, with the current government restrictions on MIR, resulting in many landlords set to make a net loss, by 2020, it is arguable whether all landlords will still to be able to afford to continue to comply.

John Hughes
28 December 2015 15:28 PM

Hi Bob.
Tell that to the bureaucrats making the legislation?
They never seem to consult anyone with any real knowledge on the subject and just 'pile drive' their way through without thinking it out properly?
In Wales where I operate, they have imposed registration on us and of course the so-called rogue landlords who are off the radar and rebate out for cash (of which there are many in my area) are not going to bother.