ROGUE Landlords Risk Being Struck Off As Council Tighten Up Registration RulesINVERCLYDE Council is to set up a new sub-committee with powers to refuse to register private landlords and to remove them from the Private Landlord Register.
The Private Landlord Registration Scheme has been operating in Scotland since 2006, placing a legal responsibility on landlords to register with local authorities. Agents who are actively renting housing to unrelated people are also required to be registered.
Convener of Education and Communities Councillor Terry Loughran said: “The majority of landlords and agents are working with the council to support good quality housing and proper management. However a small number are failing to perform to an acceptable standard as far as the housing legislation is concerned so it is a good time to review and revise the council’s approach to dealing with them.”
Criteria for deciding if a landlord or agent is regarded as a ‘fit and proper person’ have been reviewed and amended. This includes information about relevant criminal convictions or activities; failure to address reports about anti-social behaviour by tenants; information about housing benefit fraud or failing to comply with statutory duties as a landlord.
The council sub-committee will consider the refusal of applications and whether a landlord should be struck off the register.
Councillor Loughran added: “More than 3,000 landlords and agents have applied to Inverclyde Council for registration and only three have had their registration refused or removed as a result of breaching the criteria. The private rental sector has a major role to play in helping us to achieve our housing goals in Inverclyde and to promote Inverclyde as a place to live and work. A few bad apples cannot be allowed to spoil the whole the barrel and we owe it to the responsible landlords and agents — as well as their tenants -– to ensure standards are maintained.”
