Rogue landlords should have their properties confiscated by local councils, according to a cross-party report from MPs into Britain’s private rented sector. Current financial penalties are “meaningless” in deterring the worst, criminal offenders among landlords, according to the housing, communities and local government committee.

The committee also called for greater protection for tenants from evictions, rent increases and harassment, noting that 800,000 private rented homes suffer from excess cold, mould or faulty wiring. However, it made no recommendations for rent controls.

One in three UK millennials will never own a home – report Read more

MPs on the committee called on the government “to give local authorities the power to confiscate properties from those committing the most egregious offences and whose business model relies on the exploitation of vulnerable tenants”.

It said in some areas up to 25 people could be found living in houses of only three bedrooms, “while some landlords charge rent of up to £500 for a bed in a room with four bunkbeds”. But the MPs said it was striking that six out of 10 councils had not prosecuted a single landlord in 2016. Councils told the MPs that “some of the fines levied are pitiful” – often only £100 or £200 – yet it can cost local authorities thousands to take landlords to court.

The report by MPs comes amid mounting concerns over Britain’s rapidly expanding private rental sector. Earlier this week the Resolution Foundation said one third of today’s millennial generation will never own their own home, with many forced to raise families in insecure and often substandard rental accommodation. It advocated rent caps and longer-term secure tenancies.



Clive Betts, the Labour MP for Sheffield South East, who chairs the committee, said: “The imbalance in power in the private rented sector means vulnerable tenants often lack protection from unscrupulous landlords who can threaten them with retaliatory rent rises and eviction if they complain about unacceptable conditions in their homes.”

The report found that 44% of tenants said a fear of retaliatory eviction had stopped them from making a complaint to their landlord. Around 200,000 said they had been abused or harassed by their landlord.



The government has said that it is already cracking down on problems in the rental market and is working on plans to introduce a single housing ombudsman, and new legislation to make it easier for tenants to take legal action.

A spokesman for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Everyone deserves a safe and decent home and we have given councils stronger powers to crack down on bad landlords, including fines of up to £30,000 and banning orders.”

The Residential Landlords Association, which represents 50,000 landlords who own 250,000 homes, said it welcomed much of the report. However, it added that further regulation – the MPs also called for a Law Commission review of tenancy laws – would be unwelcome. “The RLA has long been concerned with the increasing complexity of laws and regulations related to private rented housing, which cause uncertainty for all those in the sector.”

Campaigners at Generation Rent, a group representing tenants, said many tenants were just too frightened to complain about squalid conditions. Dan Wilson Craw of Generation Rent said: “Having the confidence to complain is just one reason why the government should strengthen protections from eviction and rent hikes. Growing numbers of people living longer in the private rental market – including one in four children – need greater security regardless of whether their landlord is flouting safety standards, so the committee has missed an opportunity to go further in its recommendations.”