The government’s new rogue landlord database was billed as a key tool for local councils to target the country’s worst landlords, but, more than six months after the system started, not a single name has been added – and even when some are added, the public will not be able to find out.

A freedom of information request filed by the Guardian and ITV News revealed that by the end of August the database was empty. When details of rogue landlords are eventually entered they will only be accessible to central and local government, unless the rules are changed.

When the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) was asked via another freedom of information request to spell out why the public would be denied access to the database, it said the reasons behind keeping the database’s contents secret were also secret.

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The department added: “It is not in the public interest to disclose this information at this time.”

When a third request was made to ask whether any names had been added in September and October, the MHCLG again refused to answer, saying yet another FoI request would be necessary, with the usual 20 days for them to provide a response. The Guardian and ITV News has since confirmed independently that the database remains empty.

The chief executive of the Association of Residential Letting Agents, David Cox, added: “This is a truly ridiculous piece of legislation. There are no legal reasons for this database being kept secret. How on earth is a tenant supposed to know if a landlord has been banned? Also, professional bodies like ours may inadvertently endorse a banned landlord or letting agent by accepting them as a member.”

The secrecy and sparsity of the central government database contrasts sharply with a separate rogue landlord database run by the mayor of London’s office.

The London version allows the public to view prosecutions of rogue landlords in the capital’s boroughs for a year after the conviction date.

The MHCLG hinted that its secret database could remain empty of named rogue landlords for months.

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An MHCLG spokesperson said: “Only offences committed from April this year can be included and it can take a number of months to secure convictions. We expect to see entries in the database increasing in the new year.”

They added: “Councils have welcomed the database as an important tool to help them crack down on the minority of landlords who rent out unsafe and substandard accommodation.”

Since April, councils in England have been compelled to use the database to enter the details of rogue landlords who receive one of the government’s new banning orders, which local authorities can apply to the courts to be issued to the sector’s worst offenders and prevents a landlord letting their property either themselves or by using an agent.

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Local authorities can also choose to use the new database to enter the details of landlords who have been convicted of a “banning order offence” – a range of 14 offences from unlawful eviction and harassment to licensing breaches – or who have received two financial penalties for housing offences in the past year.

Banning orders, which compel a local authority to make an entry on to the system, can only be handed to landlords for offences committed after 6 April 2018. Discretionary entries into the database also only apply to offences committed since that date.

Richard Tacagni, managing director of the consultancy London Property Licensing, said the database would have only a limited impact because not all offences had to be listed. “There is no duty on councils to add landlords who have been convicted of a relevant offence,” he said. “The only requirement is to list banning orders, which will be few and far between. Unless councils actively populate the database following housing prosecutions, it will have very little impact in identifying repeat offenders.”

Alex Schembri, co-founder of property technology company GetRentr, also criticised the decision to restrict access to the new government system, and said it would have less impact than the mayor of London’s register. He said: “It’s disappointing that it is closed off from the public. It’s a missed opportunity and we would hope this policy changes in the future.

“In contrast, the mayor of London’s database … is a priceless tool for those of us who are trying to improve the private rental sector … Simply hiding everything does a huge disservice to those working to prosecute rogue landlords and agents.”

The MHCLG added that it was “exploring further options for making information contained with the database available to prospective and existing tenants”.