Renters get key to list of rogues
A BLACKLIST of dodgy landlords is being opened up so Britain’s 11million renters can view it.
The Rogue Landlord Database went live last year but is currently only available to councils.
And the information relates only to landlords seriously breaking the law.
Now it is being expanded to identify an estimated 10,500 owners and letting agents who rent out properties in an unsafe or disgusting condition.
The database will also say whether landlords charge a fair rent, ask for too much deposit or slap on sky-high letting fees.
Communities Secretary James Brokenshire said: “It’s right that we unlock this crucial information for tenants. Landlords must provide decent homes or face the consequences.”
Other measures will make it harder for landlords to evict for no reason.
But it is paid monthly in arrears, meaning an average wait of five weeks for the first payment.
Labour claims the delay drives families into debt, poverty and eviction and aims to reform it.
Like many people, Phillip Herron was deeply in debt when, without telling his family, he applied for Universal Credit.
“His death came as a complete shock,” Sheena said. “I couldn’t understand why he’d do this.”
It was only later that Sheena pieced together what had happened. Papers in his home showed he owed around £20,000 to banks, utility firms and payday lenders with, Sheena said, “1,000 per cent interest rates”. She also found an eviction notice sent to him by the Bernicia Homes housing association.
And she discovered from his children that things got so bad at Christmas
“Santa had not come”.
But worse was to come when, after