Although the 2016 Housing and Planning Act paved the way for the mass sell-off of council houses, eroded security for social tenants and watered down the affordability of new homes, it also made it possible to ban criminals from letting out properties, with new Banning Orders.
As we await the Housing White Paper to see how far the government will go to improve private renting further - and how much it will atone for the damage it caused to social housing - we are drafting our feedback on how Banning Orders will work.
Right now, if a landlord is found guilty of allowing tenants to live in a death trap, they can keep their properties and continue to operate. These stories give you a flavour of what happens to them now:
From October this year, landlords like this could be banned. Right now, the government is consulting on what offences should be treated as banning offences.
As we gather our thoughts, we would like yours.
- Have you ever had a landlord who was convicted of something - and, assuming that the council took over the property and allowed you to keep living there (if you wanted to), should they have been banned for it?
- Has a landlord been carrying out apparently illegal activities, which they got away with, and did this have an impact on you?
- Has the knowledge or possibility that a landlord is breaking the law affected how you have dealt with them?
We are collecting experiences (anonymous if necessary) of renters on this page. We will be responding to the government later this week, so please get your comments in quick!