A landlord law expert has slammed the perceived preferential treatment of social landlords compared to their private counterparts.
This was in the wake of councils in Newcastle and Nottingham being criticised by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) for ‘serious failings’ in their management of social housing properties.
Newcastle City Council, which self-referred to the RSH, was found to have over 1,800 overdue repair cases; over 1,000 outstanding damp and mould issues; a significant backlog of fire safety remedial actions; a lack of up-to-date stock condition surveys; insufficient information to understand tenant needs; and a lack of an up-to-date domestic abuse policy.
Nottingham City Council meanwhile had a lack of accurate and up-to-date data on stock quality and decency; nearly 1,000 live disrepair cases; issues with data integrity; weaknesses in its approach to gas safety; and inadequate tenant involvement in decision-making.
Phil Turtle (pictured), a director at Landlord Licensing & Defence, said: “These councils, hell-bent on squeezing private landlords, have proven themselves utterly incapable of managing their own properties.
“Private landlords would face crippling fines for these breaches, yet councils escape with little consequence.”
If a private landlord committed 3,800 property breaches Turtle remarked that they would be fined £72 million.
Turtle added: “This system is broken. Councils must be held accountable for their failures; just as private landlords are.
“Only then will we see a genuine improvement in social housing standards and a fairer playing field for all.”