A year after name and shame powers were given to councils to out bad landlords, no one has been given a banning order.
The law came to the statute book in April 2018 and allowed courts to issue orders stopping landlords convicted of criminal housing offences from letting out homes to rent.
Landlords served an order would also be named on a government database so councils across England could share data about the worst landlords.
According to a freedom of information request made by The Guardian newspaper, details of four landlords have been noted on the database, but the names are not available to the public.
Two of the entries were made by Camden Council, North London, and one each by councils in Oxford and Telford, Shropshire.
Heralding the law, the government estimated around 10,500 rogue landlords were operating in England and expected councils to quickly list 600 of the worst offenders.
Minister for Housing Heather Wheeler said:
“The rogue landlord database is targeted at the most prolific and serious offenders. It is a lengthy process to build cases and secure convictions and it is therefore not surprising that there are only a limited number at this stage.
“We expect the number of entries to the database to increase during the year as only offences committed from April last year can be included and it can take time to secure convictions.”
Another database that the public can view is operating across London.
The London assembly hosts the online database that has more than 250 entries relating to landlords and letting agents who have faced prosecution or paid fines for more than 60 offences related to housing.
