Only one landlord in 34,000 is a member of a government-backed watchdog scheme designed to deal with tenant’s complaints about the condition of their rented homes.
Figures obtained by Ajay Jagota, founder of housing complaint claims management company Veriwise, show only 79 private landlords and letting agents have signed up to the Housing Ombudsman Service.
The government-backed body, which is designed to deal with renter complaints when landlords won’t fix problems, employs 65 people – meaning that the organisation has almost one staff member for every private landlord member.
The 79 landlords who have signed up make up just 0.002% of the estimated 2,660,000 private landlords in the UK – even though membership costs just £2.16 per property. Figures from the Ombudsman show that 40% of complaints received by the organisation relate to the condition of rented properties.
Ajay Jagota, housing campaigner and founder of claims management firm Veriwise, said: “Many landlords appear not to take tenant’s complaints seriously – when you see figures like this it’s hard to blame them.
“The Housing Ombudsman has almost as many staff as it has actual landlord members, the inevitable outcome of a voluntary system – no wonder renters don’t know who to contact when a landlord won’t fix anything.
“The numbers are bleak. 4.6 million rented homes in the UK do not meet minimum standards. 1 million aren’t fit for human habitation and over 1 million have a damp problem. An immeasurable number of other renters are living day after day with their landlord not fixing things like cookers or heating – but only 0.002% of privately rented tenants have a complaint resolution service to support them.
Ajay concluded: “Up and down the country we have tenants asking themselves why their landlord won’t get rid of mice or wondering how long a landlord has to fix an electrical problem or can legally leave them without heating.
“The reality is most renters don’t know where to turn to –and they certainly don’t have the confidence or legal skills to fight their case in court or the resources to pay for a lawyer. We founded Veriwise to give them the support the system seems not to give them.”
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