Brighton council slammed by Acorn over private tenant complaint record

A Freedom of Information request by Acorn found that roughly 0.15 per cent of requests for assistance to Brighton and Hove City Council were escalated to court proceedings in the ten years to February 2023.

The union has called the proportion of the 9,356 complaints escalated “shockingly low” and has called on the council to properly police a “wild west scenario” of rogue landlords in the city.

Brighton houses (Image: The Argus)

But the council refuted claims of inaction, saying it has achieved results without the need for legal proceedings.

A spokesman for Acorn said: “These figures are utterly shocking and highlight the disgraceful lack of action taken by Brighton and Hove Council in protecting its vulnerable renters in the city. This lack of proper policing of the situation has led to a ‘wild west’ scenario where rogue landlords and letting agents feel able to do whatever they like.

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“This dangerous situation underlines the importance of our People’s Manifesto, with zero tolerance one of the five demands we are asking prospective councillors at the upcoming local elections to pledge to support, if elected.”

Of the 14 cases taken to court, nine prosecutions were enforced alongside five civil penalties, with all of the decisions finding in favour of the council.

Acorn is calling for a “zero tolerance” policy on rogue landlords from prospective councillors standing in the next local elections.

Other demands in the manifesto include protecting public toilets and a crackdown on Airbnb and other holiday lets and second homes.

A protest by ACORN (Image: Acorn)

A council spokesman said it acted on every complaint about landlords.

He said: “Our private sector housing team has been very successful in resolving issues raised with us by tenants in private rented accommodation.

“In 97 per cent of cases the necessary property improvements have been made without formal action. This leaves an average of around 30 cases per year where formal action has been taken.

“We act upon every complaint about landlords reported to us. We follow national guidance to work informally with landlords to secure improvements to properties and to ensure tenants’ concerns are addressed.

“In the vast majority of cases, this approach achieves better results without the need for expensive and time-consuming legal action. However, we do not hesitate to use prosecutions where our other interventions have failed to improve standards for tenants.”

The council said it has issued nearly £170,000 in fines to landlords in 2022 compared with £24,000 in 2021.