Key information
Executive summary
Most private landlords operating in the capital offer their tenants a good service. However, the Mayor is concerned that a small number of landlords and their letting agents rent out properties in extremely poor and dangerous conditions, which can lead to exploitation of the tenants concerned and has a detrimental impact on perception of the wider sector. The Mayor is determined to work with London boroughs to tackle this problem.
It is therefore proposed that a new section of the GLA website is developed which includes: a publicly accessible database with details of landlords and letting agents who have been prosecuted by London boroughs for relevant offences; a tool to enable the public to report a landlord or letting agent to their local authority; and information on renters’ rights, including where they can seek advice and support. The database will also hold additional information about criminal landlords and agents that will be accessible only to participating local authorities who are given a secure log-in.
The objectives of this initiative are to empower London’s renters, support local authority enforcement work and send a strong message to criminal landlords and letting agents that their behaviour will not be tolerated in the capital.
This decision approves the principle of the project, expenditure of up to £150,000, and the procurement of services to develop the database and related IT, and to promote the initiative to London’s renters.
Decision
That the Mayor approves:
• the principle and subsequent development of a publicly accessible database holding information on prosecutions of landlords and letting agents for relevant offences by those London boroughs signed up to the initiative; and
• expenditure of up to £150,000, and the procurement of services, to develop and promote a London criminal landlords and letting agents database during 2017/18.
Part 1: Non-confidential facts and advice
1.1 Around 30 per cent of Londoners (approximately two million) live in the private rented sector (PRS), far above the national average of 19 per cent. Most private landlords operating in the capital offer their tenants a good service, though a small number rent out properties in extremely poor and dangerous conditions. This can lead to exploitation of the tenants concerned and has a detrimental impact on perception of the wider sector. Local authorities have the statutory responsibility and powers to enforce standards and conditions in the sector. It is estimated that across the capital there are currently several thousand landlords who have been prosecuted by London boroughs and have unspent convictions. However, given the lack of resources within London boroughs to take enforcement action, the true level of criminality among landlords operating in the capital is likely to be far higher than this. The number of prosecutions across boroughs also varies widely, with variations not necessarily related to the size or nature of the local PRS.
1.2 The Mayor is committed to improve the PRS through, amongst other steps, ‘naming and shaming' rogue landlords through information available to the public online. Some local authorities in London are already engaged in activity to ‘name and shame’ landlords they have prosecuted for serious offences. This is especially true for those that have introduced discretionary private rented sector property licensing schemes under the provisions of the Housing Act 2004. Prosecution activity in London is increasing significantly alongside the proliferation of this type of licensing scheme. However, according to London boroughs, it remains low compared to the scale of the criminality in the PRS. This is because prosecuting landlords is resource intensive, time consuming and risky, and many local authorities struggle to fund this work due to overall budget constraints. The Mayor therefore wishes to support local authorities by ensuring that their efforts are as well publicised as possible and act as a deterrent to criminal operators in the PRS.
1.3 It is proposed that, in order to fulfil the Mayor’s commitment in this area, a new section of the GLA website is created containing:
• a publicly accessible database containing information about landlords and letting agents who London boroughs have prosecuted for relevant offences (listed in appendix I). This information will be provided, and kept up to date, by the boroughs. Members of the public will be able to view a limited number of details about landlords and letting agents with relevant unspent convictions. Boroughs who contribute to the database will be able to view more detailed data submitted by one another. This will be helpful where they are investigating a landlord or agent and would like to find out whether any other council has taken action against them. There will also be an option for landlords and agents to report any information on the database which they believe to be inaccurate;
• a tool for members of the public to report to their borough a landlord or letting agent they suspect of certain criminal activities related to housing; and
• information pages for renters detailing where they can get assistance if they have a problem with their landlord.
1.4 This initiative will have a target launch date of autumn 2017. The aim is that by this point the database will contain information on landlord and agent prosecutions of relevant offences from six boroughs. After this, all London boroughs will have the opportunity to participate.
1.5 Ahead of autumn 2017, GLA officers will focus on the detailed work needed to get the project up and running. This includes the content of the information in the database, the design and delivery of the database, the development of an information sharing agreement between the GLA and boroughs governing how the data will be collected and used, and a notification and representations process for landlords. The GLA will work in partnership with a small number of boroughs to do this, and then expand the offer to join to all boroughs once agreements are in place and the database has been tested. Commitment to participate has been secured from, and an initial meeting has taken place with, the first wave of six boroughs.
1.6 The Housing and Planning Act 2016 (‘the 2016 Act ‘), which received Royal Assent in May 2016, provided a power for the Government to create a national database of ‘rogue landlords’ for use by local authorities. Unlike the proposed Mayoral database, the Government database will not be accessible by the public. The provisions in the 2016 Act regarding the database have not yet been commenced and require secondary legislation to be laid in Parliament in order to set out the relevant detail of the scheme. The timescale for the delivery of the proposed Government database is therefore not yet known. GLA officers are working with DCLG to develop joint or complementary systems and processes.
1.7 The Mayor is asked to approve the development of a publicly accessible database, holding information on prosecutions of landlords and letting agents for relevant offences by those London boroughs signed up to the initiative.
1.8 The Mayor is asked to approve a budget of £150,000 for this project. This figure includes the cost of procuring a developer to build the database, as well as promotional activity leading up to and following the launch.
1.9 The developer’s key deliverable will be the database. They will be required to develop the following key functionality:
• upload: to enable the automated upload to the database of landlord and agent prosecution records by boroughs, using individual logins
• search: to enable searches by name, first line of address or postcode
• data reporting: to enable the production of performance reports by variable (for example, to see the number of records by borough and how this changes over time)
• auto-removal: to enable the automated deletion of a record once a conviction has reached its expiration date (each record on the database will include the date and length of conviction)
• representations: to signpost landlords and agents to the representations process, and to enable GLA officers to suspend (temporarily remove) records from public view and then reinstate them, as appropriate
• reporting tool: to enable tenants to report a landlord or letting agent they suspect of criminal activity. The form will request information on the property address and complaint, and automatically redirect this information to the enforcement team within the relevant local authority
• tiers of access: to enable different users to view different levels of information. It is anticipated that the first tier, available to the public, will offer a limited range of details, potentially including landlord name, rental property address, and some details of the offence committed. The second tier is likely to offer a more comprehensive set of information to participating London boroughs, including civil penalty notices and historic convictions.
2.1 This initiative will be a first step towards making landlords and agents more accountable to renters and enforcement bodies. It will send a strong message to landlords, councils and renters that the Mayor is willing to do everything he can in this area to crack down on criminal practice in the sector. Its three main objectives are:
• to support local authorities in their enforcement efforts and to increase awareness amongst renters and landlords of the work that councils are doing locally to crack down on criminal behaviour
• to empower renters by allowing them to check a list of criminal landlords prior to renting, by offering them a simple way to report criminal practice in the sector, and by giving them greater information about their rights and where they can seek assistance
• to send a clear message to criminal landlords and letting agents across London that successful prosecution for relevant offences will result in them being ‘named and shamed’ across London, making it harder for them to operate ‘under the radar’.
2.2 Measurable performance indicators will be developed once the detailed work with the first wave of boroughs is complete.
3.1 Any decisions made with regard to this initiative will comply with the Equality Act 2010 and, in particular, the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty as set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010.
This provides that, in the exercise of their functions, public authorities must have due regard to the need to:
• eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010
• advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it
• foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.
The obligation in section 149(1) is placed upon the Mayor, as decision maker. Due regard must be had at the time a particular decision is being considered. The duty is non-delegable and must be exercised with an open mind.
Equalities considerations will be taken into account by the GLA in connection with all of the work procured.
In improving standards and conditions in the private rented sector this policy will be of benefit to people with several of the protected characteristics provided for in the Equalities Act 2010 such as:
• age (70 per cent of private renters are under 45)
• race and ethnicity (63 per cent of London’s private renters were born overseas)
• pregnancy and maternity (30 per cent of households living in the private rented sector now have dependent children).
The table below outlines the risks posed by this initiative, the level of risk, and the action GLA officers will be undertaking to mitigate.
This decision seeks approval to spend up to £150,000 to develop and promote London criminal landlords database. These funds are available from Housing and Land’s Management and Consultancy budget and will be expended in the 2017/18 financial year.
6.1 The decision requested of the Mayor is approval for the development of a publicly accessible criminal landlord database, holding information on all prosecutions of landlords and letting agents for relevant offences by those London boroughs signed up to the initiative and for expenditure of £150,000 and the procurement of services to develop and promote the database.
6.2 The establishment of the database is permissible under section 30(1) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (‘the GLA Act’) if the Mayor considers that doing this will further one or more of the Authority’s principal purposes of: promoting economic and wealth creation, social development or the promotion of the improvement of the environment in Greater London.
6.3 The proposals for the database on landlords’ relevant convictions will further the Authority’s aims for promoting both economic and social development in Greater London. The Authority would be seeking to ensure that the PRS operates in a fairer and more transparent way and that tenants are protected from exploitation by unscrupulous landlords.
6.4 In formulating the proposals set out above in respect of which a decision is sought, officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties:
• paying regard to the effect that this decision will have on the health of persons in greater London, health inequalities between persons living in Greater London, the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom and climate change and its consequences (section 30(3-5)) of GLA Act
• paying due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people (section 33 of GLA Act)
• consulting, where appropriate, with appropriate bodies (section 32 of GLA Act)
• having due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty under s.149 (1) of the Equality Act (see section 3 for further details).
6.5 Under section 34 of the GLA Act, the Mayor is empowered to do anything (including the acquisition or disposal of any property or rights) which is calculated to facilitate, it is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of any functions of the Authority exercisable by the Mayor.
6.6 The decision requested for expenditure of £150,000 and the procurement of services to develop and promote the database is an exercise of the incidental powers under section 34 of the GLA Act.
6.7 The GLA will need to satisfy the conditions for processing personal and sensitive data under the Data Protection Act 1998 with regard to the operation of the database. The GLA will keep the operation of the database under review with regard to implications of the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation in 2018.
6.8 Any works, services or supplies required must be procured by Transport for London procurement who will determine the detail of the procurement strategy to be adopted in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code.
6.9 The GLA must ensure that appropriate contract documentation is put in place and executed by the successful bidder(s) and the GLA before the commencement of any works, services or supplies.
7. Deputy Mayor’s Policy Panel
7.1 This proposal has been informally approved by the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development outside of the DMP process.
Planned delivery approach and next steps
8.1 The project will be led and co-ordinated by the GLA Housing and Land Directorate, with support from External Affairs, including the Digital Transformation Team, the Technology Group, the Data Governance Team and TfL legal and procurement. An external agency will be procured to create the database and develop and deliver other necessary additional software for the GLA website.
8.2 The GLA Housing Unit will be responsible for ensuring effective ongoing delivery and maintenance of the database and associated aspects of this initiative.
8.3 Next steps:
See document below.
Appendix 1 - List of Offences
Signed decision document
MD2106 London criminal landlords and letting agents database (signed)