Why rent refunds are the key to fixing the rental market
One tweak to the Renters (Reform) Bill could transform renters’ awareness of rights, drive up landlords’ compliance with new rules and reduce council’s workload at a time of financial difficulty. […]
It just got easier to tackle criminal landlords in London
- It is estimated that one in seven homes in England is criminally unsafe – but the good news is it just got easier for tenants in London to do something about this. Sadiq Khan has today brought in a tool for renters to check if their home needs a licence.
Local councils are responsible for identifying and putting a stop to criminal landlords. In some cases, tenants can even claim rent back from a landlord who breaks the law.
But councils are not doing much to help renters identify illegal practice and exercise their rights which means that many landlords are getting away with criminal behaviour.
Finding out if your landlord is a criminal
There are now three live government consultations that could help to reshape the private rental market.
One is on reforming tenancy deposits (deadline for responses 2 September), the second is on abolishing Section 21 evictions (deadline 12 October) and the third, announced last Sunday as well, proposes giving tenants access to a government database of criminal landlords.