Don't use word rogue to describe criminal landlords, says RLA boss

The term ‘rogue landlord’ should not be used, the chairman of the Residential Landlords Association has said.

Instead, Alan Ward urged that the word ‘criminal’ should be correctly applied – and they should be treated as criminals, with many more prosecutions.

Speaking at the NALS conference, Ward said that today’s landlords were faced with several challenges.

He picked out localism, as creating chaos around the country, with different local authorities adopting different policies, notably on selective licensing schemes.

He also said that 31 cities had used Article 4 Directions in order to control the number of Houses in Multiple Occupation. This, he said, was no more than discrimination against young people.

He also said that over-cautious lending and ‘over-priced mortgages’ were a barrier to landlords’ investing. He said that fees for mortgages were four or five times what they were a few years ago.