Named and Shamed! Letting agents back controversial d...

A controversial database which will allow widespread access to the identities of rogue letting agents and landlords has been backed by trade body Propertymark.

Its head of policy and campaigns, Timothy Douglas, says: “Propertymark has long called for the Database of Rogue Landlords and Property Agents to be made public so the UK Government outlining its intention to do so is a step in the right direction.

“It doesn’t currently make sense that the information is only made available to local authorities. Tenants, landlords and lettings agents can’t vet each other, and an open Database would also allow letting agents to use it when recruiting staff and allow professional bodies access for enforcement purposes.

“Furthermore, many letting agents also work as sales agents and are therefore regulated under the Estate Agents Act 1979. Consequently, a ban under the Act should constitute a Banning Order offence under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 and form part of a joined-up enforcement effort across the property sector.

“It is good that the UK Government have listened to Propertymark, and we are continuing to scrutinise the proposals to ensure that the plans to also reform the threshold of offences to be entered onto the Database are consistent with all forms of prosecution.”

In its long-awaited response to a formal consultation on access to the rogue landlords database - set up back in 2018 - the government acknowledges that the data has not been as widely used as it could have been by tenants and local authorities.

So the government now says: “We will introduce a new Property Portal to make sure that tenants, landlords and local councils have the information they need.

“The portal will provide a single ‘front door’ for landlords to understand their responsibilities, tenants will be able to access information about their landlord’s compliance, and local councils will have access to better data to crack down on criminal landlords.

“We also intend to incorporate some of the functionality of the Database of Rogue Landlords, mandating the entry of all eligible unspent landlord offences and making them publicly visible.”

The portal idea was first mooted in the Fairer Private Rental Sector White Paper released in June.

It is widely thought this portal will also serve as a national register of all private landlords although this has not been confirmed by government.