Landlords will be targeted for minor issues in a draconian move that will see council officers targeting law-abiding landlords. Landlord Licensing & Defence has warned.<\/p>\n
A new amendment to the Renters\u2019 Rights Bill agreed by the House of Lords gives local councils the power to conduct surprise inspections on private rented properties without giving notice to landlords.<\/p>\n
One critic warned these changes could lead to increased targeting of landlords and hefty fines for minor infractions.<\/p>\n
Phil Turtle, a director at Landlord Licensing & Defence, said:\u00a0\u201cThis has little to do with tackling rogue landlords.<\/p>\n
\u201cCouncils use these powers daily to penalise landlords who may not have everything 100% perfect.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a system ripe for abuse, with officers acting like bullies to extract fines.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome even boast they have more powers of entry than the police.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the new provisions, councils would not have to give landlords 24 hours\u2019 notice before entering properties for enforcement inspections.<\/p>\n
The notice requirement will still apply to tenants.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Instead, landlords will be informed within a \u2018reasonable amount of time\u2019 after the inspection has occurred.<\/p>\n
Turtle argued that current laws, including the Housing Act 2004 and the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, already allow councils to enter properties without notice in cases of suspected offences.<\/p>\n
These include entering unlicensed properties or looking for breaches of licence conditions.<\/p>\n
He warned that council officers frequently use these powers to \u2018catch out\u2019 landlords for minor issues, such as incomplete paperwork, which, under the Bill, can result in fines of up to \u00a340,000.<\/p>\n
Turtle added: \u201cCouncils have been carrying out surprise inspections for years, often under the flimsiest of pretexts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey claim suspicion of unlicensed properties or breaches of regulations to justify unannounced visits, sometimes arriving at 5am with eight officers dressed in uniforms resembling those of the police.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese tactics are designed to intimidate tenants, and the Renters\u2019 Rights Bill only legitimises this behaviour, giving councils even more scope to target landlords.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turtle has encountered landlords who have told him that council officers have threatened tenants with deportation or other consequences to gain access to properties.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cCouncil officers are already overplaying their hand to intimidate tenants and with the new rules, I shudder to think what might happen, but the rules will be exploited.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Landlords will be targeted for minor issues in a draconian move that will see council officers targeting law-abiding landlords. Landlord Licensing & Defence has warned. A new amendment to the Renters\u2019 Rights Bill agreed by the House of Lords gives local councils the power to conduct surprise inspections on private rented properties without giving notice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-second-home"],"yoast_head":"\n