No prosecutions over ‘non-decent homes’ ... but there’s more to it
DERBYSHIRE Dales is one of 53 council areas which has not prosecuted a single residential landlord in three years – but there’s more to it.
Tim Braund, the council’s head of regulatory services, which includes housing, says that despite a Guardian article last month pointing the finger at the council, the devil is in the detail.
The newspaper had requested details of the number of landlord prosecutions between 2015 and 2017 and for the number of “non-decent” homes in each council’s jurisdiction.
Non-decent homes are those which are “not in a reasonable state of repair, don’t have reasonably modern facilities and services, or have ineffective insulation or heating”. One in five people in the UK are thought to live in homes classed as “non-decent”.
Mr Braund said many of the nondecent homes locally were older properties which had not been upgraded, and that despite the authority not prosecuting any bad or rogue landlords, it does frequently intervene on housing issues.
He said there is a lack of private landlords locally because of an older population, more rural location and a lack of students needing accommodation.
However, he says the largest issue is that, to make a formal complaint about a private landlord and have the council force an inspection, the landlord has to be notified and given the chance to be present. He says this has put off many tenants from complaining.
Mr Braund says many complaints raised by tenants fall back on poor upkeep by the residents themselves.
The Derbyshire Dales has an estimated 12,410 non-decent homes – all private sector housing – as of 2009. In the past year, the district council has received 26 housing complaints, most of which are not in the private sector. Three inspections were carried out.
The authority has served two notices, one of which was an emergency prohibition order, placed on the home of an elderly lady. Mr Braund said the house which was served with the latter order was within five miles of Matlock and in “such a bad condition that you wouldn’t keep a cow there”.
He said the lady had been put in another home and the site would be sold.
The housing standard was put in place under the Tony Blair administration. Mr Braund backed idea.
Mr Braund said: “Many of the homes in the Derbyshire Dales were built in the early 20th century and are harder to heat and keep warm. In Chelmorton and Doveridge, they don’t get any gas, they have electricity, which is more expensive, so these could be classed as non-decent.”
Mr Braund says it is often a lack of double glazing which leads to a home being classed as non-decent.
He said that there had been aid provided by the government to make improvements to private housing – but this has “all dried up”. He says when housing complaints relate to poor upkeep by the tenant “it is not always an easy conversation”, but the authority’s staff work with them to tackle issues. “We are no better or worse than any other council, and we have a service here to help people. I am quite proud of it and we do what we can with the available resources.”
An authority spokesman said: “A rogue landlord has been defined as one who consistently flouts his or her legal responsibilities. We have a small private rented sector in the Derbyshire Dales that to some extent caters to the needs of more affluent renters.
“Any issues with individual rented properties are dealt with as they arise and we are fortunate we are able to work with them in most cases. Where appropriate, we serve enforcement notices but none of this has needed to progress to court.”
Residents who live in private-rented properties can contact the district council with their concerns by emailing envhealth@derbyshiredales.gov.uk, or by calling 01629 761212.
One house was in such a bad condition that you wouldn’t keep a cow there Tim Braund