A lettings agent who also runs a tenant complaint insurance service has renewed his attack on landlords and local authorities.

Ajay Jagota says his new Veriwise insurance service was created “in response to the Britain’s epidemic of poorly maintained and unrepaired rented homes.”

In addition he claims there is a tsunami of complaints to his new service about deposits.

Some 30 per cent of cases considered by solicitors acting for online claims management firm Veriwise relate to deposit abuse – with an estimated 25 per cent of the firm’s clients unsure if or where their deposit is protected.

“It stands to reason that the same landlords who don’t care about their legal responsibilities when it comes to living conditions would be equally negligent when it comes to deposits. As always, my questions are who is enforcing these regulations?” he asks. 

He says research by the National Residential Landlords Association discovered that two thirds of English councils have prosecuted no landlords for offences related to standards in or the management of private rented housing over the last three years – and that just 20 local authorities were responsible for 77 per cent of all successful prosecutions.

Jagota continues: “The situation could be even worse that it looks – it’s truly alarming how many of the renters who come to us to complain about things like broken central heating, rodent infestations and dangerous electrics are also unable to tell us if and where their deposit is protected.”