Trading Standards and rogue landlords: when to report and what happens

Trading Standards is a local council service. It makes sure people follow consumer law, product safety rules, and trading law. In housing, Trading Standards teams can take action against landlords who break serious rules. This includes acting dishonestly, running an unlicensed HMO in some areas, and breaking consumer law. Below, we look at what Trading Standards can do in housing cases. We also explain how to report a landlord, and what other steps you can take at the same time.

What Trading Standards can act on in housing

The powers Trading Standards has are not the same in every council. They also depend on which law is being used. In housing, the main areas include:

Fraudulent or misleading practices: Some landlords or letting agents give false information about a property. For example, they may claim it has things it does not have. They may give a false energy rating. Or they may make false claims in adverts. This may break the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Trading Standards can look into this and take the landlord to court.

Letting agent fees: Since the Tenant Fees Act 2019, most fees that letting agents charge tenants are banned. Charging banned fees is a civil offence. Trading Standards deals with it and can give the agent a fine.

Unlicensed letting agents: Letting agents must join a client money protection scheme and a redress scheme. If they do not, they are breaking the law. Trading Standards can take them to court.

HMO licensing offences (in some areas): In some council areas, Trading Standards works with the housing enforcement team. Together they deal with unlicensed HMOs or landlords who break HMO management regulations.

Product safety: Some landlords supply unsafe gas appliances, unsafe electrical equipment, or furniture that fails fire safety standards. Trading Standards can deal with this under product safety law.

What Trading Standards cannot do

Trading Standards cannot:

• Order a landlord to carry out repairs on your behalf
• Act on your behalf in a civil claim for disrepair
• Replace the role of Environmental Health for housing hazards (though the two services sometimes work together)

To force repairs or get compensation, a disrepair claim through the courts is a better fit. A complaint to Environmental Health can also help.

How to report a landlord or letting agent to Trading Standards

You usually report to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline (0808 223 1133). They pass your report to your local Trading Standards team. You can also contact your local council yourself. Ask which team deals with landlords or letting agents.

Try to give clear details when you report. Include the landlord or agent's name and address. Say what they did wrong. Add any proof you have, and your own contact details.

Trading Standards is mainly there to enforce the law and take people to court. It is not a redress scheme, so it cannot give you compensation. But a successful Trading Standards action can lead to a criminal conviction. It can also lead to civil penalties, and sometimes a Banning Order. A Banning Order stops the landlord from renting out property.

Banning Orders

Under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, courts can make Banning Orders against landlords who have done certain serious housing offences. These include unlicensed letting, illegal eviction, and harassment. A landlord with a Banning Order cannot let residential property. Trading Standards and council housing teams both help build the cases that can lead to Banning Orders.

Using Trading Standards alongside a disrepair claim

A report to Trading Standards and a disrepair claim are two separate things. You can do both at once. This works if your situation involves a serious offence (such as fraud or banned fees) and repairs that have not been fixed. The Trading Standards report can add to a wider record of how the landlord behaves. Note that Trading Standards keeps its investigations private while they are still going on.

Sources

• Housing and Planning Act 2016 (banning orders) (legislation.gov.uk)
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 (legislation.gov.uk)

Related articles

• Landlord harassment and illegal eviction
• What is a rent repayment order?