Our call came in response to a number of local crime and anti-social behaviour issues over previous months, some of which were directly linked to repeatedly disruptive tenants in private sector properties in Blackhall Colliery. It should be noted that local councils at the moment have only limited powers and influence over landlords and properties in the private rented sector. This is a particular problem when there is currently no legal requirement for landlords to sign a national register, making it much more difficult to identify the owner of a property when something goes wrong. The implications for our communities are obvious and well documented elsewhere on this site.
In a related development today the Private Landlords (Registration) Bill will receive its second reading in the Houses of Parliament. Brief details of the Bill are shown below:
New
legislation to regulate private landlords would reduce crime and anti-social
behaviour
Areas where a lot
of people live in private-rented accommodation will be less likely to suffer
crime and anti-social behaviour if new legislation to regulate private
landlords is approved by Parliament this week.
A Private Member’s
Bill tabled by Phil Wilson, MP for Sedgefield, would make it compulsory for all
private landlords to sign up to a national register. One key benefit of this
would be that the Police, Local Authorities and other service providers would
know who to contact when there are issues with environmental damage,
anti-social behaviour and crime locally.
Commenting on the
draft legislation, Durham’s Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner Ron Hogg
said “When Police are carrying out investigations, so much time can be lost
trying to identify who owns the property where suspects are living. A mandatory
registration scheme for private landlords would make a significant difference
to resolving crimes, and I believe it would also act as a deterrent because
offenders would know there would be a greater likelihood of them being caught.”
As the Bill is only at the second reading stage there is still some way to go before it has any chance of becoming law but we'll track its progress through the legislative process and update regularly on developments.
