FOI - Rogue Landlord Checker [Feb 2023]

Your request 

Therefore under the FOIA, I would like to request the following data:

1a) The total number of total decision letters generated after a landlord or agent has made a representation for the years 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 to date.

1b) Of the total decision letters, how many were there in which the enforcement agency accepted the representation and the entry was not published on either the public or private tier of the Checker for the years 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 to date?

For this total please provide a breakdown of which criteria the representation met - ie, whether “naming on the Checker carries a risk of personal harm to you or your family”; “there are national security risks associated with naming you”; or “there are other factors which suggest that it would not be in the public interest to name you”.

c) Of the total decision letters, how many were there in which the enforcement agency decided to discontinue publication on the public tier, but publish entry on the private tier for the annual years 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 to date?

For this total please provide a breakdown of which criteria the representation met - ie, whether “naming on the Checker carries a risk of personal harm to you or your family”; “there are national security risks associated with naming you”; or “there are other factors which suggest that it would not be in the public interest to name you”.

1d) Of the total decision letters, how many were there in which the enforcement agency rejected the representations and proceeded to publish the entry on the public and

private tiers of the Checker for the annual years 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 to date?
For this total please provide a breakdown of which criteria the representation met - ie, whether “naming on the Checker carries a risk of personal harm to you or your family”; “there are national security risks associated with naming you”; or “there are other factors which suggest that it would not be in the public interest to name you”.

Our response

We can confirm we hold some of the information you have requested, please find below the information we hold within the scope of your request:

When a representation is received from a landlord or agent, it is attached to the case on the ‘Rogue landlord and Agent Checker’ (the Checker hereafter) and the borough is notified to review the case and make a decision. There are 4 possible decisions that a borough can select on the checker when a representation is received. These are:

1. Amend information
2. Discontinue publishing (both public and private)
3. Discontinue publishing (private only)
4. To publish.

The checker will then automatically generate a decision letter (based on the decision made) and this will be sent to the Landlord or Agent.

The GLA is able to answer the first part of your questions - 1a,1b,1c,1d. However, we are unable to provide a breakdown of the criteria that each decision meets as the Checker does not record this information. When a borough selects their decision, they do not input which of the 3 exceptional criteria the representation meets, therefore this information is not held. The decision letter is automatically generated and sent by the GLA, and boroughs do not hold this information.

We have set out, below, the answers to the questions that we are able to answer and I have attached a spreadsheet with the data, as requested.

1a)

• Total number of decision letters generated for the year 2020: 24
• Total number of decision letters generated for the year 2021:16
• Total number of decision letters generated for the year 2022: 8
• Total number of decision letters generated for the year 2023 to date: 4

1b)
The number of decisions that resulted in the case being removed from both the public and private parts of the database: 6
Broken down by year:

• 2020: 5
• 2021: 1
• 2022: 0
• 2023: 0

1c)
The number of decisions that resulted in the case being removed from the public database: 12

Broken down by year:

• 2020: 5
• 2021: 3
• 2022: 1
• 2023: 3

Boroughs can also choose to publish the case with amendments. This is when the landlord’s representation states that there is an error in the information provided in the case and the borough has agreed to amend this information and continue to publish.

Number of cases where the borough has decided to publish with amendments: 3.
Broken down by year:

• 2020: 1
• 2021: 2
• 2022: 0
• 2023: 0

This information is presented on a spreadsheet which is attached with our response, as you have requested.