LAST year, more than 850 people made a complaint about their landlords to Oxford City Council. Half of those complaints were related to poor living conditions.

The Oxford Mail requested more information about the complaints from Oxford City Council, with the results revealing why hundreds of tenants complained.

Overall, 869 complaints were made to the council, 465 of them over issues related to disrepair, poor conditions or because the tenants suspected their rented property was not licensed to be shared by multiple occupants.

Among the complaints there were 12 cases of harassment, one unannounced visit, 17 cases of ‘multiple issues’, 29 cases of rent increase, 184 threatened evictions and six unlawful evictions. There were also 139 complaints related tenancy advice and 16 counter-claims.

Safieh Kabir is a member and elected officer at Acorn Oxford, a community union that fights for renters' rights. Ms Kabir said that Acorn had helped tenants across the city with problems such as mould, fire hazards, cases of sudden rent increase and cases of threatened eviction.

Living with mould

However, she also said that because there were so many houses in disrepair, many tenants had simply become used to living with mould.

Ms Kabir said: “What Acorn has found when new members join is that people are really tired of the existing complaints procedures.

"They have to contact either the letting agent, the landlord or the council again and again to get some repairs done and they find the existing enforcement mechanisms in place are not efficient.

"What does happen when people join Acorn is they realise the power we can give each other, what can happen when we build collective power and people gain faith in that.”

Acorn has been campaigning and supporting the council’s decision to implement a landlord’s licensing scheme.

The new scheme will require landlords to apply for a license to privately rent properties in Oxford. Landlords will need to prove that their properties have the legally-required gas, electrical and fire safety certificate.

If the council receives complaints from tenants, the council will be able to contact the landlord to ask them to take action.

If the complaints are substantial, and if they persist, the council will be able to remove their landlord's licence.

'Housing hazard'

Councillor Alex Hollingsworth said: “While most Oxford landlords act responsibly, we estimate that around a fifth of privately-rented homes in the city have a serious housing hazard, such as dangerous electrical or gas installations, inadequate or no fire precautions, or a lack of or inefficient heating.

“Currently, there is nothing stopping a landlord with criminal convictions from renting a property in Oxford, and we are reliant on tenants coming forward – and potentially risking eviction – to report unsafe conditions before we can take action. Even then, tenants often don’t know who their landlord is, so it’s extremely difficult for us to take action.”

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“Unfortunately, we think a number of the rogue landlords have been driven out of HMOs and into the wider private-rented sector. These landlords are exploiting Oxford residents and putting people’s lives at risk. We think a level playing field across the whole private-rented sector is the fairest way to deal with the problem, and keep residents safe.”

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