HOUSING

More than 100 councils report not prosecuting rogue landlords

‘Many’ council enforcement teams do not have the resources and capacity to proactively tackle poor standards in the private rented sector, the Local Government Association has said.

© Shutterstock

© Shutterstock

‘Many' council enforcement teams do not have the resources and capacity to proactively tackle poor standards in the private rented sector, the Local Government Association has said.

More than 100 local authorities have not prosecuted any rogue landlords at all in half a decade.

Freedom of Information Act requests found that 115 councils in England and Wales – or 46% of the 252 respondents – confirmed there were no prosecutions from April 2019 to March 2024.

A further 49 councils only sought court action against a single landlord in the five-year period, meaning just under two-thirds (164) did not undertake a court prosecution of multiple landlords.

According to Public Interest Lawyers, which carried out the research, there were more than 1,260 reported prosecutions across the five-year period, working out at around one per 335 complaints the councils received from concerned tenants.

 

HOUSING

Councils' watershed moment

By Martin Ford | 05 June 2025

Next week’s Spending Review will have huge implications for the future finances of local government. Martin Ford looks at what we know so far, and the key qu...

HOUSING

EXCLUSIVE: Coventry equal pay bill could be more than £30m

By Dan Peters | 05 June 2025

Coventry City Council could face an equal pay bill of more than £30m, The MJ understands.

HOUSING

Councils told cuts will follow

By By Martin Ford | 05 June 2025

Councils have been warned to brace for grant cuts after next week’s Spending Review despite deputy prime minister Angela Rayner’s attempts to shield the sector.

HOUSING

Planning for the unplannable

By Tim Farr | 04 June 2025

Tim Farr of Starfish Search takes a look at the ever-changing political and economic landscape – heavily influenced by events in the US – and how is it is cu...

Popular articles by William Eichler