THE council has only prosecuted three landlords in the last ten years - with campaigners calling for action to protect people who rent.

The tenants' union Acorn described the figures, revealed after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, as "concerning but not surprising".

It comes after a study revealed almost half of private renters in the South East have been the victim of illegal behaviour from a landlord or a letting agent.

Acorn says it has been calling for a crackdown for more than a year - claiming the Greens have "made it very clear it's not a priority".

The council said its plans had been hit by Covid but it would be investing £200,000 and taking a range of different actions to protect renters.

While the council's housing committee today will today discuss "zero tolerance" including a public database of "rogue landlords".

An Acorn spokesman said: "It's no wonder landlords act illegally so often as they know they won't face any consequences from the council, who have their fingers in their ears when it comes to renters' issues.

"We have been asking the council to crack down on rogue landlords for over a year, but the Greens have made it very clear it's not a priority."

Acorn submitted an FOI asking about all prosecutions - either successful or unsuccessful - of private landlords and lettings agencies in the city.

The request covered cases related to harassment of tenants, illegal evictions, failing to carry out repairs or forcing tenants to live in unsafe conditions.

The council replied saying that in the last decade there had been three prosecutions against private landlords for unsafe conditions

Acorn is now calling on the council to "take these issues seriously " and support the motion going before the housing committee this afternoon.

The Argus: Martin Osborne alongside fellow Green councillor Hannah ClareMartin Osborne alongside fellow Green councillor Hannah Clare

Lead councillor for the private rented sector Martin Osbourne said: “We are very sympathetic to the concerns Acorn has expressed about the private rented sector and are grateful for their active participation in helping bring about improvements.

“Unfortunately, some of the plans we had in place to increase our enforcement activity recently were severely delayed by the pandemic.

“However, this year we are investing nearly £200,000 to recruit additional staff to our housing enforcement team. This team’s performance will be monitored by our housing committee.

“They are working pro-actively to raise awareness of our service, find problems that haven’t been reported to us, and support our commitment to providing good quality private sector homes.

“Every case that is reported to us is investigated. We work hard to resolve issues that are raised with us informally, following national enforcement guidelines.

“But we will not hesitate to prosecute in instances where landlords don’t respond to improvement orders we have issued, and we want to do more on this.

“We will publicise any successful prosecutions to send a strong message to rogue landlords. We also encourage tenants to come forward, and we have made it clear that we are strongly against ‘revenge evictions’.

“We are also looking to help create an ethical lettings agency for the city.”

A recent Yougov study found the most common illegal behaviour faced by renters being a landlord or agent entering their home without giving notice.

The study found that almost a fifth of renters had not had their deposit secured in an approved government protection scheme.

While a tenth claiming to have been assaulted, threatened or harassed by their landlord.

Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said renters should not have to put up with such situations.

She said: "Home is everything. Yet thousands of private renters across the South East don't feel safe or secure in theirs because of landlords and agents who flout the law.

"Enough is enough. Nobody is above the law and renters are tired of being powerless to enforce their rights."

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