Newham council in east London is the first local authority in the whole of England to introduce compulsory registration for landlords in order to help the council in the fight against rogue landlords. Those that own privately rented properties in the area now have to comply with health and safety standards and also declare any criminal records; otherwise they could be fined up to twenty thousand pounds.
Newham has a history of encountering problems with rogue landlords, especially those that leave their properties in unfit conditions and rent them out for unreasonable amounts of money. The council describes some of the private rented properties in Newham as “slums”, which include faulty wiring, dangerous gas appliances, pest infections, and overcrowding. Many of those that live in these properties are immigrants – both legal and illegal – who often find it difficult to fight for their rights to basic housing standards, and usually live in a single room with their entire family.
In the past two years the council has already conducted raids on homes in multiple occupation (HMOs), which are properties with multiple families, or “households”, inside. During the raids the police also work with the UK Border Agency in order to find illegal immigrants and gather evidence than can be used in legal proceedings.
Discussing the new registration system, Russell Moffatt, Newham Council’s private housing manager, has said that landlords who register with the council “will never hear from us. But those that don’t… tend to be the ones that have the poorest properties. We will be knocking on their doors.” Some landlords however are against the new registration system and worry that it could create too much bureaucracy and red tape that could lead to the private rental market suffering. Landlord insurance providers are keeping a keen eye on whether other councils across the country are planning on also introducing the registration scheme, especially as it could mean that policies have to be altered so that they are only void to those that do.