My letter being sent to people following the Shelter Campaign.
Re: Shelter Campaign – Evict Rogue Landlords
Thank you for your letter dated xxx regarding the above campaign by Shelter.
Bath and North East Somerset Council are very supportive of this campaign by Shelter and we take the matter of rogue landlords in our area very seriously. We are committed to acting on concerns you have regarding poor housing and encourage good landlords and tenants to speak out and report unsafe or unhealthy properties to us so we can investigate them under the legislation.
Our approach for tackling poor housing conditions in the rented sector has two strands. The first is reactive, where we investigate housing complaints. Where tenants advise us they are having problems with their housing we investigate their concerns, carryout inspections where necessary and engage landlords to work with us to improve the property in line with current legislation. In the financial year 2010-2011 we carried out 223 inspections following complaints and made a further 387 revisits to ensure works were completed.
The second strand is a more proactive approach where we identify higher risk properties and programme in inspections. This strategy includes licensing certain higher risk houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and making regular inspection of properties we may have concerns about. We currently have over 350 Licensed HMOs and last year carried out 128 proactive inspections.
In both cases we always follow our enforcement policy and where landlords fail to work with us and take our advice we will take formal action to ensure compliance. This may include serving formal notices requiring work to be completed and prohibiting areas from use where they can not be adequately improved. In the financial year 2010-2011 we served 37 notices on landlords and property owners.
In the majority of cases is a successful way to ensure works are carried out. However, where this fails to ensure compliance we may be able to prosecute landlords and even undertake the work ourselves at the landlord’s expense. So far this financial year we have successfully prosecuted 2 landlords for 4 offences under the Housing Act and they each received significant financial penalties.
We are always keen to speak to landlords and tenants, offer advice where we can and signpost people in the right direction if we are unable to assist straight away. This informal way of dealing with landlords and tenants is evident in our voluntary property Accreditation scheme where we work with and encourage landlords to join the scheme and engage in our services. The scheme currently includes around 1,500 inspected properties which have housed thousands of tenants over the years in safe and healthy properties.
The Accreditation scheme has allowed us to form good relationships with property owners and managers in the private rented sector as well as with The University of Bath, Bath Spa University, Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Police and local businesses. Through these contacts we actively seek out poor landlords and encourage information sharing to allow us to promote and improve the private and social rented sectors.
If you would like to discuss any of these issues further then please feel free to contact the Housing Standards Team on 01225 396444 or housing@bathnes.gov.uk. If you would like any more information please go to www.bathnes.gov.uk/housing.
Yours sincerely