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Leeds City Council received nearly 2,000 complaints against private landlords last year - but prosecuted just 10.

Exclusive figures were obtained by LeedsLive from Freedom of Information requests made by the Residential Landlords Association.

Experts have warned that 'landlords are breaking the law' and 'getting away with murder'.

A total of 1,946 complaints were made to the council against rogue landlords in 2017/18, the data shows.

Local authorities ultimately have responsibility for regulating the private rented sector.

In April 2017 the government gave them the power to take action against rogue landlords who flouted the rules by prosecuting them.

The issues with Leeds landlords 1,946 complaints made 10 prosecutions 2017/18

At the time, Housing and Planning minister Gavin Barwell said: "These measures will give councils the additional powers they need to tackle poor-quality rental homes in their area."

But experts say little has changed since the rules came into effect.

Councils were also given the power to impose fines of up to £30,000 as an alternate measure to prosecution. This is known as a 'civil penalty'. The figures show that no landlords in Leeds were served civil penalties.

While there were just 10 prosecutions, there were 2,091 housing health and safety rating system (HHSR) inspections carried out in 2017/18.

This is usually the first step taken by local authorities if they believe a property contains hazards. Common hazards include things like damp and mould growth, a faulty gas boiler, or fire risks.

Local authorities can then take enforcement action following the result of the inspection.

Hazard awareness notices - a first warning - were issued 11 times by the council. There were 92 improvement notices issued to private landlords in Leeds for what are known as category 1 and category 2 hazards.

A category 1 hazard is one that poses a serious threat to a tenant’s health or safety. This can include things like exposed wiring, leaking roofs and rat infestations. Less serious or less urgent hazards are classed as category 2.

Leeds council also issued 29 prohibition orders to private landlords in 2017/18.

This restricts the use of part or all of the property and can also place a limit on the number of people living there.

(Image: Leeds City Council)

This type of action is usually enforced when hazardous conditions pose a serious health and safety threat but practical repairs are not

possible, usually because of the cost.

It can also be enforced when facilities are unsatisfactory for the number of people who live there.

Jacky Peacock, director at Advice4Renters, said: "Local authority budgets have been stripped to the bone but still, they all could be

doing much more.

'Many of these things that councils can impose are duties not laws, so they don’t have to impose them'

"Councils often can’t dedicated the budget to focusing on these sorts of issues.

"Landlords know that they can get away with treating tenants like this because so few tenants actually know their rights. The whole thing is just a mess.

"Councils are reluctant to go against private landlords because in most areas there is a homelessness problem, so there is a real conflict because councils often house homeless people in these properties.

'It sends the message that landlords can get away with murder'

"Landlords are breaking the law and they know they are.

"We have argued for decades that there has to be a new regulation come into place because the most vulnerable people - those on low income jobs, for example - are terrified of going against their landlord and complaining to the council for fear that the landlord will evict them, and they will then be homeless and could end up living on the streets.

"They don’t want to take that risk of being made homeless."

In response, Councillor Debra Coupar, Leeds City Council executive board member with responsibility for communities, said:

“Ensuring we have good property standards is vital to protect our residents across the city. Whilst we use prosecutions successfully against landlords in the private rented sector, they are only one part of a range of work and options we use to ensure our standards in Leeds are maintained.

“Within Leeds we have several proactive approaches to improving housing standards as well as a Rogue Landlord Unit, where our specialist staff proactively target the worst offenders and criminal activity. We don’t hesitate to prosecute where there is criminal behaviour or where landlords refuse to co-operate.

“Our Leeds Neighbourhood Approach targets small geographical areas looking at the worst housing, empty properties and vulnerable tenants.”

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