Bedford Borough Council said 2,001 complaints were made against Borough landlords in the past five years, with the complaints varying in severity and many being resolved through informal engagement.
A council spokesperson said: “Housing law, like many regulatory enforcement frameworks, is based on a graduated approach to resolution, meaning complaints can be dealt with through informal means and engagement with landlords.
“The figure of 2,001 complaints also does not detail the severity of disrepair, which could range from very minor to more significant.
“Where landlords fail to deal with disrepair informally and/or significant hazards remain, the council may issue an enforcement notice to require improvements made or use of homes prohibited.
“Either at the informal or formal stage, the majority of landlords carry out repairs. Therefore, prosecution is not the starting point in any complaint investigation.”
The spokesperson added that a breach of notice is also not an automatic prosecution, and a reminder or the threat or prosecution can also serve as “effective action” in resolving disrepair.
“Only those landlords who refuse to take action would face further action,” they said. “There have also been changes to housing law which introduced civil penalty notices (CPN).
“This is an alternative to prosecution which enables councils to enforce non-compliance in very specific cases, such as failure to comply with an improvement notice.
“These were designed to discharge liability without more severe sanctions such as criminal prosecution.”
The spokesperson also defined “rogue landlord” – which has a specific legal interpretation, defined within the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
“An individual can only be defined as a ‘rogue landlord’ if they are convicted of a banning order offence, and application is made for a banning order,” the council spokesperson explained.
“This would only apply in cases of repeat offenders or very serious first-time contraventions.
“There are no landlords who have been put onto the rogue landlords’ database in Bedford borough and subsequently prosecuted for a breach of banning order.”
The council’s data showed that it had not taken any rogue landlords to court over the last five years.
More information on how to complain about your Bedford borough landlord can be found on the council’s website.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
