A NEW scheme trying to root out Oxford’s unscrupulous landlords and give tenants greater protection has been labelled pointless.

The creation of a Landlord Accreditation Scheme, a list of the city’s best landlords, was given the go-ahead last month by Oxford City Council, which hopes the programme will help improve the quality, condition and operation of the rental market.

The scheme work by listing landlords on a website who had been given a certificate for passing certain criteria. It is thought it would let potential tenants know the landlord was credible and the accommodation good quality.

But landlords will be accepted on a self-certification basis, and, according to the council guidelines, only a number of applicants will be inspected.

Critics voiced concerns about the voluntary scheme, claiming it would simply give more work to the good landlords and do nothing to clear the city of bad ones.

Jan Bartlett, owner of Premier, a letting agency in Cowley Road, said: “The council is making promises to tenants that are a sham.

“They list the benefits of renting through an accredited landlord as including property being in good repair, clear and concise tenancy agreements and properly recorded damages deposits.

“But nobody is going to check any of this. The council has already confirmed it is not going to inspect all the properties so I just don’t get it.

“The council says it will list on a website the accredited landlords – so superb landlords may be listed alongside those who are not superb.

“Where then is the benefit in being accredited?”

Ed Turner, executive member for strategic housing, said the scheme would not be running on its own and would be used alongside existing rules for houses in multiple occupancy (HMOs).

He said: “We still want to extend the licensing for HMOs.

“At present just doing HMO licensing does nothing to raise standards in properties which are not multiple-occupancy, so we need to look wider. Some of those most at risk of bad landlords are, for instance, vulnerable families being supported by social services.

“This is one tool among several for raising standards in the private rented sector.”

However, Liberal Democrat housing spokesman Patrick Murray said the scheme would not work because it was not compulsory.

He said: “This will make not a blind bit of difference.

“The good landlords will be given more paperwork, the bad landlords will just ignore it, and it will do nothing whatsoever to tackle the housing problem for the most vulnerable people.”

A Landlords’ Forum to discuss the scheme is being held on Thursday in the Town Hall from 1.30pm with presentations beginning at 2pm and finishing at 5pm.

awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk