Section 19 - 24
19. Intervention where there is harassment, illegal eviction and poor tenancy management
Ashfield District Council expect that landlords and agents have good management practices in place. We believe landlords and agents should behave in a professional and respectful way towards their tenants.
Landlords and tenants should expect us to challenge poor tenancy management practices and seek improvements in approach.
The most serious of these types of offences are to do with the harassment and illegal eviction of tenants (Protection from Eviction Act 1977). We take these offences very seriously as we have a strong commitment to:
- Protecting the interests of vulnerable people
- Promoting respect for the individual’s home
- Preventing homelessness
- Promoting the health and well-being of people living in private rented accommodation
The law provides a process for landlords to lawfully regain possession of their properties and these legal requirements must be followed when a landlord wants a tenant (or licensee) to leave.
We will not become actively involved in assisting with the preparation of legal Notices or other documents on behalf of landlords. However, we will sign-post landlords to the right information and other services where they can get this information.
If a resident claims that they have been made to leave without the proper legal procedures being followed, this may give reason to suspect that an offence has been committed under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. In these cases, we will investigate with a view to:
- Informing the landlord and resident of their rights and responsibilities where appropriate
- Prosecuting offences where there is enough evidence for there to be a reasonable prospect of conviction and where it is in the public interest to do so.
We will liaise with our colleagues in the department that deals with homelessness to assess all cases where private rented tenants have been asked to leave. This is to make sure we identify any illegal or poor practice in this area.
20. Licensing of properties
Not all of our interventions come directly from a referral or complaint. We may, in line with the Council’s legal responsibilities, carry out inspections to ensure landlords are complying with the law. For instance, management duties are applicable to all Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).
Breaches of management duties may be investigated with other matters or following identification of other problems at the house.
Landlords or owners must apply to the Council for a licence to operate for some HMOs that fall within the statutory definition. We may initiate visits to HMOs where we consider that they may need to be licensed under this mandatory HMO licensing scheme, but an application has not been received.
Where the Council has designated an area for selective or additional HMO licensing, requiring some or all landlords letting properties in the area to obtain a licence, we will initiate visits and actions to make sure that properties comply with the conditions applying to those schemes.
We will seek to identify all properties that are required to be licensed, and where they are not licensed, we will take the appropriate legal action.
In addition, where we identify that a property fails to meet the relevant property standards, they will be subject to appropriate enforcement action as detailed elsewhere in this policy to ensure that all deficiencies and defects are remedied.
Licences have standards and conditions attached to them, which must be complied with. We may prosecute breaches of licence conditions or issue notice of a financial penalty where there is sufficient evidence, and it is in the public interest to do so.
The Council must consider various factors when processing a licence application. More details about mandatory HMO licensing can be found:
Details of any scheme of selective licensing the Council administers are detailed:
21. Fit and proper persons and satisfactory management arrangements
Ashfield District Council take a rigorous approach to assessing whether landlords and agents named on a licence are Fit and Proper, and whether their management arrangements are satisfactory.
Under the Housing Act 2004, where a property is required to be licensed under either the mandatory HMO licensing scheme, or a selective licensing scheme, the Council must be satisfied that the Licence Holders and other persons involved in the management of the property, are a fit and proper person to be the licence holder or to be the manager of the property additionally , the Council must be satisfied that the management arrangements are satisfactory, including that persons involved in the management of the property are fit and proper persons to be so involved, and have a sufficient level of competence, and that the management structure and funding arrangements are suitable.
This includes considering factors such as whether managers or Licence Holders have a criminal record or have contravened landlord and tenant law. Other factors would include having been declared bankrupt, and also, any evidence we have about the competence of the individual or company in relation to the role it is proposed they have in managing the property.
Where we are concerned that the management arrangements proposed for a property are not satisfactory, we may make further enquiries including, for example, asking a manager to attend an interview to discuss their role in managing the property to help us decide whether they have the competence to perform that role.
22. Rent repayment orders
A rent repayment order is an order made by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Division) requiring a landlord to repay a specified amount of rent either to the tenant or the Council.
An application for a rent repayment order can be made by the Council or the tenant, depending on how the rent was paid. If the tenant paid their rent themselves, then the rent must be repaid to the tenant. If rent was paid through Housing Benefit or through the housing element of Universal Credit, then the rent must be paid to the Council.
Rent Repayment orders can be applied for when a range of various offences have been committed relating to the management of properties, whether or not there has been a conviction.
Where we are aware that a landlord has been convicted of any of the offences for which a Rent Repayment Order can be made, and the breach was committed in Ashfield, we will always consider applying for a Rent Repayment Order. In these cases, the tribunal must order the maximum amount in line with the Housing and Planning Act 2016. This is the amount of housing benefit or universal credit paid to the landlord over a 12-month period.
We may apply for a Rent Repayment Order following conviction for an offence where we consider that there is sufficient merit with regard to factors including: -
- Whether the offender could reasonably have been expected to know that they were in breach of their legal responsibilities
- The likelihood of further offending by the offender - the deterrent to others who may commit similar offences,
- The financial circumstances of the offender, -
- The removal of any financial benefit the offender may have obtained as a result of committing the offence.
We may also decide to apply for a Rent Repayment Order where there has not been a conviction, but we are satisfied that an offence, for which a Rent Repayment order can be made, has taken place and there is a reasonable prospect of the Council satisfying the tribunal beyond reasonable doubt that the offence was committed.
In these cases, when deciding whether to apply for a Rent Repayment Order where there has not been a conviction, and when deciding how much rent we should seek to recover, our considerations will include, but not be limited to, factors such as:
- The financial circumstances of the offender,
- Any previous action taken against the offender,
- Whether the offender could reasonably have been expected to know that they were in breach of their legal responsibilities
- The likelihood of further offending by the offender,
- The deterrent of the order to others who may commit similar offences,
- The removal of any financial benefit the offender may have obtained as a result of committing the offence,
- Any other aggravating factors,
- The conduct of the offender and the occupier.
Where there has been a conviction and the tenants have the right to pursue a rent re-payment order, we will consider offering them support in any application made to the Tribunal service where we consider that an application has merit, having regard to such factors as:
- The harm caused to the tenant,
- The deterrent value to the offender,
- Removing any financial value, the offender may have obtained in committing the offence.
We will have regard to the Government’s current Rent Repayment guidance and any other relevant Council policy when deciding whether to apply for a Rent Repayment Order.
23. Recovery of costs
Where there is a legal entitlement, we will seek to recover all costs and charges incurred to us in using our powers to take legal action.
There are various methods by which the Council can recover the costs incurred in carrying out work in default, dependent on the type of notice that has been served:
- Sundry debtor method: the Council will send the appropriate person an invoice requesting payment.
- Charge on the property: where the legislation governing the enforcement action allows the Council can put a charge on a property. The charge remains in place until the Notice is complied with and, in the case of the Council carrying out and paying for works in default, until the debt is cleared. If the property comes up for sale a Local Authority search will show the outstanding Notice and trigger the repayment from the proceeds of the sale.
- Forcing sale of the property: the Council can reclaim its costs by bringing about the sale of the property. The proceeds of the sale will be given to the owner less the amount owed for the work in default and less the amount incurred by the Council in selling the property.
24. Publicity
We acknowledge that media reporting of convictions of criminal offences acts as a deterrent to others, and has the potential for reducing offending, deterring rogue landlords and improving the management and safety standards of private rented housing. To this strategic end, where we consider it appropriate, we will inform local, and where relevant national, media, of enforcement action taken within this policy.
We will encourage and assist media representation at court hearings and actively publicise convictions where we consider it may deter similar behaviour or offences from being committed.