Holders of landlord insurance policies in a northern city are being urged to buck up their ideas as complaints from tenants reached a record high last year.
The beautiful city of York has for many years attracted tourists from all over the world, and students have flocked to the city to study there. As a result rented properties have been highly sought after and property investors have done their best to meet the demand. However, not all landlords have been conducting their business in a fit and proper way, and City of York Council say they received 170 complaints about residential landlords. Most of the complaints concerned health and safety issues but there were a small number of tenants who complained of harassment by the landlord and a handful of tenants claimed illegal eviction. The council also noted that emergency services were called in on three occasions to deal with a landlord’s “behaviour or neglect”. The council believe it has identified a dozen landlords who regularly cause problems and they are determined to root them out.
A spokeswoman for the council said: “We know standards in the private rented sector, compared to other tenures in the city, are poorer, as is the case nationally. However, there are many good landlords and letting agents, and private tenants are generally satisfied with the standard of their accommodation. We have found the majority of those landlords who don’t adhere to the law do so out of ignorance and we work with them to support them in raising standards. However, firm action is taken against those who flout the law or act irresponsibly.”
With an increase of something in the region of 50% in the number of rented properties in the city over a period of just a decade, the number of complaints will be seen by many as a sign of a place where landlords are generally doing a good job, and if the council only has to worry about getting tough with a dozen landlords then the city should soon be an even better place to live.