A private member’s Bill is being introduced that would require tenants to provide details of their landlord on council tax registration forms.
Conservative MP for Hornchurch and Upminister Dame Angela Watkinson, has tabled the Local Government Finance (Tenure Information) Bill.
Under the current law, when new occupants move into a house they are obliged to notify their local authority to establish council tax payments. Nowhere on the form does it ask the tenure of the property or, where it is rented, who the landlord is and what their contact details are.
The Residential Landlords Association has been arguing that this is a missed opportunity for local authorities in the policing of the private rented sector – especially rogue landlords who operate under the radar.
The Bill would enable councils to request details of a property’s tenure and details of the landlord, if a rented property, on council tax registration forms. Tenants are already legally entitled to know the name of the landlord when signing a new tenancy agreement. Through tenants disclosing this to the local authority, the RLA argues it will make it much more difficult for criminal landlords to avoid being identified.
The RLA says that where a tenant is unable to identify their landlord this would provide local authorities with a signal that there may be deliberate evasion and they will be able take appropriate action through identifying the owner of the property through the Land Registry.
Although private members’ Bills do not usually succeed, Dame Angela Watkinson said that hers had been welcomed by the Citizens Advice Bureau and has cross party support.
Alan Ward, chairman of the RLA, said: “The RLA welcomes and strongly supports Dame Angela’s Bill. This Bill sends a powerful message to criminal landlords that you can run but you cannot hide.
“For too long, a minority of landlords, operating under the radar, have been able to cause misery for their tenants and have been left unchecked by local authorities whose resources are too stretched.
“It will be more effective than a landlord register, or licensing, in identifying rented properties.”
Comments (2)
hopefully there will be a £2000 fine on the tenant for not registering this information with the government /council within 28 days of the start of the tenancy agreement.
I had tenants who left to go on holiday and tenant from another flat then (whilst my tenant was away) registered for council tax on my flat (no doubt setting up the documentation to commit fraud). When the tenant got back they wanted to know why the council tax payer had changed. I immediately contacted the council and utility suppliers notifying them of the situation. So may be councils should take more care when registering allegedly new council tax payers as well! It was also reported to Action Fraud with the identity of the person setting up this fraud (their real name address and mobile number) and they just were not interested mere compiling statistics I guess!