Councillors in part of Wales are considering the creation of a 'Report A Rogue Landlord’ system for tenants who claim their landlords are breaking the law.
Labour councillor Sam Swash, who sits on Flintshire council has tabled a motion which is passed would provide tenants with the opportunity to report so-called rogue landlords.
In so doing they would form part of a publicly available and searchable database of landlords who have been prosecuted, or faced civil enforcement action, for housing offences.
The local Leader Live website serving Flintshire quotes Swash as saying: "Tenants in Flintshire deserve the right to know in advance if their prospective landlord has previously broken housing law and been prosecuted. They also need to be given the confidence to report unscrupulous landlords to the Council so that enforcement teams can investigate, take action, and prosecute, if necessary."
He continues: "The council should be proactive in carrying out its duty to root out unscrupulous landlords who exploit tenants. By providing these tools to tenants, we will make Flintshire a safer place for people to rent by helping them to find housing with responsible landlords."
"We are finding that more and more people are living in properties that are damp, mouldy, not structurally sound, or suffer from faulty wiring.
"Often, people feel they have no choice but to accept these conditions because of the cost-of-living crisis and the lack of affordable housing locally. I want those people to feel empowered to report those issues to the council, so that they can be given the help they deserve."
Similar systems have been launched in Greater Manchester and London - the latter, created by London Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, has been used more than 380,000 times since it was launched six years ago.
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