Shropshire Star

Rogue landlords in Telford hit by £43,000 in fines and costs

Rogue landlords in Telford & Wrekin have been hit by more than £43,000 in fines and costs over the last 12 months, it has been revealed.

Published
Telford & Wrekin Council

A total of 226 notices were served across the borough in relation to 60 properties in 2018.

And in early 2019, a further 112 notices have been given out to 31 properties.

It comes after the launch of the council's Better Homes for All package in February 2018, part of which involved the formation of a rogue landlord taskforce.

As well as money in fines and costs, £11,000 was also reclaimed in Housing Benefit.

As part of six prosecutions, Telford & Wrekin Council became the first authority in the country to add a name to a national rogue landlord database.

Councillor Richard Overton, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for housing and enforcement, said: "Our Better Homes for All work is part of our drive to create a better borough.

"Our policy of educating first and taking action against those who persistently and wilfully break the law is really paying dividends.

Anti-social

“Our housing teams, by working with the private rented sector, are helping to solve a housing and accommodation problem for Telford & Wrekin. We are adopting a carrot and stick approach – supporting the good and applying enforcement powers against the persistently bad."

The Better Homes for All scheme also included new ways of enforcing against anti-social behaviour and environmental crimes.

In 2018, a total of 283 fixed penalty notices were issued, more than four times that of the previous year.

There were 641 warning letters sent to people suspected of anti-social behaviour but where there was insufficient evidence to issue a fine. This compares to only 195 warning letters in 2015.

The number of reported fly-tips last year was 40 per cent lower than its peak three years earlier.

“Our work on tackling environmental crime and anti-social behaviour is helping to change attitudes and behaviours," Councillor Overton said.

"We have seen, for example, a big drop in the number of reported fly-tips. Some of the streets which were originally in our top ten for littering and fly-tipping are no longer in that list. This is as a result of our work with communities living in those streets.

“I would like to thank our officers for their hard work and achievements. We will continue to closely monitor the effectiveness of this package of measures.”