Rogue landlords: Calls mount for national registration scheme
The government is facing calls for a national registration scheme to aid councils in tackling rogue landlords in England.
A white paper is expected to be published in the coming months that will look at the idea, according to the Guardian.
Councils that require rental homes to be registered under local licensing schemes are more than twice as effective at getting rid of serious hazards, compared to those with no form of registration.
The research comes from Generation Rent, which said registration would make it easier to prevent criminals from renting out homes.
Landlords in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are required to register all properties. Just seven per cent of England’s private rented properties are covered by licensing schemes, according to the Centre for Public Data (CFPD).
In England, you have to register to run a takeaway or work as an art therapist, but anyone can be a landlord – remarkable given how dangerous it is to live in a property with faulty wiring, boilers or mould,” Anna Powell-Smith, director for the CFPD, said.
Generation Rent found 32 councils with selective licensing schemes identified an average 158 unsafe homes each in 2019-20, compared to 63 across 200 councils without such schemes.