London mayor Sadiq Khan has vowed bad landlords have no hiding place in the capital now every borough council has signed up to his ‘Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker’.
Although the database was opened in December 2017, only 10 councils displayed information about landlords or letting agents convicted of housing offences.
Now, all 33 boroughs have agreed to hand over their prosecution records for the public to search online.
The checker lets anyone find out if a landlord or letting agent has a housing related conviction in London, even if the offender lives outside of the capital.
A new ‘report a rogue’ tool has also been added to the app that lets anyone make a housing complaint against their landlord or letting agent.
“When I launched the checker, I made it clear unscrupulous landlords and agents would have nowhere to hide. Now, with all local authorities signed up, we have reached an important milestone in protecting London’s renters,” said Khan.
“The rental market in the capital is difficult enough to navigate without a small minority of rogue operators exploiting their tenants. This tool will empower Londoners to make an informed choice about where to live.”
The government has launched a similar nationwide database – the National Rogue Landlord Database – but the information is only open to councils.
Dan Wilson Craw, Director of campaign group Generation Rent, said: “Landlords and agents already require references from renters before starting a tenancy, so it’s only right and fair that renters have a chance to vet their prospective landlords and agents.
“This resource should be should be rolled out nationally to help drive up standards in the private rented sector across the country.”
The Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker can be accessed from this link
Now all we need is for councils to display a similar list for rogue tenants.
I agree totally with David, I would suggest there are far more “Rogue Tenants” than there are “Rogue Landlords”, unfortunately very few “elected individuals” appear to recognise the existence of Rogue tenants. Additionally Dan Wilson Craw fails to comprehend that – for those of us who have been and are at present working closely with the “homeless sector” – such aspects as references etc are not an option. Landlords such as myself are bridging the gap left due to a great lack of social housing.
I realise that it is my decision to involve myself in this sector, however, despite the good intentions etc of LA’s etc I can state that without some improvement in the stance etc of “those we elect”, Landlords such as myself will move to the private sector which is far less traumatic.