\n<\/p>\n
Two-thirds of councils in England have not prosecuted a single landlord in the past three years, despite receiving 300,000 complaints from desperate tenants living in unfit homes.<\/p>\n
From 2022 to 2024, nearly half of local authorities responsible for housing did not fine a landlord, while more than a third did not issue any formal action against people letting out homes unlawfully in the private rental sector.<\/p>\n
Councils prosecuted just 640 landlords and issued 4,702 civil penalty notices (CPNs) \u2013 meaning fewer than 2% of tenant complaints led to formal enforcement of any kind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really concerning,\u201d said Nye Jones, the campaigns manager at Generation Rent. \u201cCouncils simply don\u2019t have the resources to enforce, leaving landlords across the country not fulfilling their obligations, and renters living in awful conditions that impact their physical and mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graphic showing prosecutions of landlords by councils in England<\/p>\n
The 252 councils that responded to the Guardian\u2019s freedom of information request issued private landlords with \u00a326.4m in fines from 2022 to 2024. Legally, this money must be ringfenced to fund improvements in housing enforcement \u2013 but the number of landlords punished has barely changed each year.<\/p>\n
Of the hundreds of rogue landlords actually prosecuted by councils over the past three years, only 16 have been banned from letting homes \u2013 eight of them in London.<\/p>\n
Under the Renters\u2019 Rights Act, councils will be legally obliged to enforce new legislation designed to clamp down on rogue landlords from 1 May 2026. But councillors have warned MPs that austerity has gutted housing enforcement teams, meaning new tenant rights will remain largely \u201csymbolic\u201d without sufficient funding.<\/p>\n
Tom Darling, the director of the Renters\u2019 Reform Coalition, said: \u201cLegislation without enforcement to back it up is just paperwork. The new Renters\u2019 Rights Act should deliver important new protections for private renters \u2013 but for tenants to benefit, the government must commit the resources and funding necessary for councils to enforce the act and hold criminal landlords to account.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom Hunt, the leader of Sheffield council and chair of the Local Government Association\u2019s inclusive growth committee, said it was \u201cstark\u201d how little formal enforcement was taking place.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcross the last 15 years, councils have seen a huge reduction in their budget,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cThat has meant that key specialist roles, which are not always fulfilling statutory duties, have been lost \u2013 and many staff have moved into the private sector.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry Dawson, a former enforcement officer and now lecturer in housing regulation at Cardiff Metropolitan University, says council funding for enforcement has fallen by an average of about 41%, with staff numbers falling by more than a third between 2010 and 2020. \u201cIf they were to take on prosecution or to handle an appeal of a formal legal notice, then that could effectively remove them from their day-to-day work for months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without long-term investment, Dawson said, councils would remain unable to enforce the new legislation: \u201cUnless you provide sustained and predictable funding \u2026 what you\u2019re creating is symbolic rights for tenants rather than actual rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ministers on Friday announced \u00a318m in \u201cburdens funding\u201d to help councils prepare for enforcing the Renters\u2019 Rights Act. Councils and housing experts have welcomed the move but warned the funding falls far short of what will be needed to make the reforms work.<\/p>\n
Dawson said the funds would \u201chelp, but not transform\u201d councils\u2019 capacity to enforce the new laws. \u201cA lot more funding will be needed to cover the large enforcement burden that the act will impose. The funding must be sustained and predictable and must allow councils to attract and train new staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hunt said it was \u201cpositive\u201d that the government had announced the funding, but warned \u201cthe act places significant new regulatory and enforcement responsibilities on councils. <\/strong>For the act\u2019s reforms to be effective, it is vital that councils are fully funded\u201d.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.<\/span><\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n When Maya Jagger moved into a shared house in Ealing in west London in 2021, she did not know her landlord was renting the property illegally without an HMO (house in multiple occupation) licence. Over the next three years, she faced mould and disrepair, landlord harassment and what a tribunal later ruled was an illegal eviction.<\/p>\n Jagger asked Ealing council repeatedly for help but said she was left to handle the case alone. \u201cAfter the officer came round and surveyed the property \u2026 she never followed up. I tried and tried. I tried the main office. I tried [the officer\u2019s] email. I tried calling them. I just heard nothing after that.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>Maya Jagger now lives in Cardiff after her illegal eviction from her flat in Ealing. <\/span> Photograph: Francesca Jones\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Despite providing evidence that the landlord had illegally evicted her, the council never intervened. \u201cYou\u2019re sat hoping for someone to pick up the phone and you\u2019re on hold for 40 minutes, an hour, and no one picks up. It hangs up eventually. It just makes you feel really alone.\u201d<\/p>\n An Ealing council spokesperson said: \u201cWe are working hard to improve conditions in the private rented sector and making sure private tenants have safe and stable homes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe use a graduated enforcement approach, which gives landlords a reasonable opportunity to make repairs, especially if they were unaware of any issues, before taking formal enforcement action such as improvement notices for non-compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n Councils across England often take a similar informal approach, using legal action and fines as a last resort in tackling poor housing standards. But new government guidance published this week makes clear that authorities are \u201cunder no expectation to take informal steps\u201d, such as warning letters before acting, signalling a demand for tougher, faster enforcement.<\/p>\n Tenants in England lodge an average of 286 complaints a day about conditions in their homes.<\/p>\n Guardian analysis found that although Birmingham received the third highest number of complaints of any council in England (12,002), it has not prosecuted any landlords since 2022 and raised \u00a399,065 from fines \u2013 a formal enforcement rate of 0.38%. In a statement, Birmingham council said: \u201cWe have recently reviewed and refined our enforcement policy, particularly around CPNs, and we look forward to further national guidance on this subject.\u201d<\/p>\n By contrast, Leeds council received 2,797 complaints but prosecuted 24 landlords, issued 770 CPNs and banned one rogue landlord, meaning 28% of tenant complaints resulted in formal action.<\/p>\n Councils in Streatham and Croydon North in London, the constituency of the housing secretary, Steve Reed, rank among the worst in the country for enforcement. Croydon council received 4,461 tenant complaints but did not prosecute any landlords and issued three civil penalty notices, collecting \u00a316,000 in fines in 2022.<\/p>\n Lambeth council in south London handled 3,207 complaints and took three enforcement actions \u2013 a rate of 0.09%.<\/p>\n Gavin White, the executive member for housing at Manchester city council, said raising funds for enforcement was \u201ca challenge that we need to address\u201d, whether it was through \u201cburdens funding\u201d promised by the government or core council funding. \u201cIt\u2019s something we want to do, so there\u2019s a political ambition there. It\u2019s just how we get ourselves ready for that.\u201d<\/p>\n A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said the rate at which councils were enforcing was \u201cnot good enough\u201d. \u201cEveryone deserves a safe and decent place to live, which is why our landmark Renters\u2019 Rights Act will legally require councils to crack down on rule-breaking landlords.<\/p>\n \u201cAlongside our reforms, we will provide \u00a318m in additional funding so councils can meet their responsibilities and hold landlords to account.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two-thirds of councils in England have not prosecuted a single landlord in the past three years, despite receiving 300,000 complaints from desperate tenants living in unfit homes. 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