The Residential Landlords Association is calling for better enforcement of existing laws and regulations to protect tenants in private rented housing.

In response to the latest Citizens Advice survey – here – the RLA says the report is a timely reminder of the importance of better enforcement.

Figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies show that during the last parliament, the budgets of local authority enforcement departments were cut by over 37 per cent per head of population in England.

And recent research conducted by the Local Government Information Unit and Management Journal has also found that 54 per cent of local authorities believe that they are in danger of being unable to fund their statutory services which include Environmental Health Services.

Commenting on the CA report, Alan Ward, association chairman, says no tenant should ever have to put up with unsafe housing, and those landlords that wilfully provide such accommodation have no place in the market.

“Today’s report highlights the growing need for better enforcement of the wide range of powers already available to local authorities. The hazards identified by CA are already illegal and calls into question the use of housing benefit for unfit properties.

“With council enforcement departments under serious pressure we are calling on the government to review the capacity and resources available so that we can crack down on the small minority of criminal landlords that are causing misery for their tenants” he says.