Council hypocrisy with housing standards

 Great Yarmouth council plans to re-introduce selective licensing to "improve" the standards of private rental housing.

However in 2022 Great Yarmouth council was issued with an improvement order for it's own housing being unsafe and sub-standard.

The Regulator of Social Housing concluded that Great Yarmouth Borough Council has breached the Home Standard and, as a result, there was potential for serious detriment to tenants.

GYBC council failed to meet statutory requirements for fire, gas, electrical, asbestos and water safety.

If they were a private landlord they would have gone to prison for this but no-one from the council was prosecuted.

Brent Council has just embarked on a door-to-door inspection of housing to find "criminal landlords".  The irony is that pretty much on the same day the Regulator of Social Housing has issued a damning judgement against the London Borough of Brent, highlighting huge deficiencies in the council’s ability to meet essential safety and quality standards for its tenants.  Who is the criminal?

The same situation is repeated across the country.  Double standards where councils are providing damp, cold, unsafe housing to tenants yet these same rogue landlords expect private landlords to be gold plated.  

Sadly private landlords are just viewed as cash cows by councils - issuing fines for minor failings to raise revenues yet council tenants are dying in unsafe homes...

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