However, when viewing the images, it seems the council should be doing more to run down rogue tenants who are happy to live in filthy rooms strewn with rubbish.
Presumably, the rubbish and filth was not there when they moved in.
The pictures are published at the end of this article, so you can make your own decision.
The issue is not all landlords are angels – they are not. Bad landlords who break the law should be prosecuted and banned from letting sub-standard homes.
But good landlords also suffer from letting their properties to bad tenants who don’t pay the rent, abuse their homes and leave them in a terrible state.
Instead of maligning all landlords, Reading councillors and their counterparts in other towns and cities should support good landlords with rogue tenants and mercilessly hound criminal landlords to the full extent of their powers.
Reading has issued the images to support a campaign to improve housing. Part of this campaign involves a consultation for additional licensing of houses in multiple occupation across the borough.
These images give a wholly wrong impression of private housing in Reading.
The council’s environmental health officers took the pictures as the result of complaints from tenants.
“Some of those photos were examples of bad management from landlords, some of those photos were of bad tenancy from tenants,” said a Reading Council spokesman. “The point we are trying to emphasise is what the council is attempting to clamp down on is bad management of properties full stop.”
Richard Lambert, CEO of the National Landlords Association, argues additional licensing will not solve housing management problems because landlords who already flout the law are likely to continue to do so.
“It is essential that all landlords operate their lettings business professionally and adhere to the many rules and regulations governing the private-rented sector,” he said.
“Those landlords who don’t follow the regulations and flout the law must be prosecuted. Local authorities have a range of existing powers to target criminal landlords; it is essential that they use these powers to help protect tenants from the illegal operators who blight the private-rented sector.
“The NLA is concerned that additional licensing will only serve to alienate law abiding landlords and push the criminal landlords further underground. After all, a rogue landlord is not going to apply for a license.
"It's remarkable how bad landlords and bad tenants gravitate towards each other. Just as there is a minority of landlords who ignore the law, there are also tenants who do not respect the property they rent or their neighbours. The council should work with landlords to tackle anti-social behaviour, rather than placing the entire responsibility on the property owner."
Filthy bedroom
Open drain
Piles of rubbish
Broken stair rail
Cockroaches on cooker
