More than half of local authorities in England do not accurately record the number of housing complaints about landlords, according to the National Residential Landlords Association.
It found that 56% of councils do not accurately record the complaints they receive concerning private rented sector housing, following a freedom of information request. This figure rises to 61% for those local authorities which run selective licensing schemes.
Among local authorities which did accurately record the grievances they received, each of these councils dealt with an average of 274 complaints per year.
English councils conducted 98,858 inspections under the housing, health and safety rating system across England between 2018 to 2021, says the landlord’s body. This roughly equates to just 1 in 45 private rented sector properties, according to our findings.
Theses inspections are not consistent across local authorities, with many councils failing to register any of their inspections, the association says.
Just 1 per cent of housing, health and safety rating system inspections resulted in a follow-up prosecution, with 4% of improvement notices resulting in the imposition of a civil penalty.
NRLA director, policy & campaigns Chris Norris says: “What is needed in order to build a private rented sector which is fair and inclusive for all, is for councils to use all of the powers at their disposal.
“These figures show that there is a long way to go before councils deal effectively with the rogue landlords who bring the sector into disrepute.
“Until councils adopt a more effective approach towards recordkeeping, it will be impossible for them to take the steps necessary to enforce regulations.”
Last month, the NRLA said nearly a quarter, or 23%, of landlords reported having faced income losses because of Covid.
In a survey of over 1,000 landlords conducted by YouGov on behalf of the association, 54% of those who had suffered losses say they had lost up to a fifth of their income and 5% said they had lost more than half of it.
