NLA responds to Shelter’s ‘law-breaking landlords’ claim

Landlords have hit back at claims by housing charity Shelter that more than a million renters are victims of law-breaking landlords.
The survey of more than 3,250 renters by Shelter and YouGov uncovered a range of problems with landlords committing offences ranging from unlawful behaviour to serious criminal offences.

While reports of landlords entering homes without permission and deposits not being properly protected were among the most common issues, Shelter said many cases of more shocking behaviour from rogue landlords were also uncovered in the survey.

Richard Lambert, chief executive officer at the National Landlords Association (NLA), said: “We believe that no-one should have to put up with a criminal landlord, but a lack of enforcement and prosecution from councils means that it’s way too easy for the unscrupulous to get away with this kind of behaviour.

“These figures highlight serious issues that are simply unacceptable, but our research with tenants shows that 82 per cent say they are happy with their current landlord. Furthermore, Shelter’s figures show the vast majority of landlords to be law abiding.

“But it’s not just a one-way street – three in 10 landlords in the UK, approximately 600,000, say they have been either verbally or physically abused by a tenant before.

“What’s important is that anyone who is harassed, abused or subject to what they believe to be illegal behaviour seeks immediate advice and reports the matter to the police and relevant authorities”.