There’s a nasty little scam going round at the moment. Con artists are gaining access to flats and advertising them for rent. When a prospective tenant comes round to view the flat, the con artist poses as a landlord, takes a cash deposit, tells the tenant they can move in the next day and then disappears – taking the deposit money with them. There has been a great deal of publicity about this con, and Tower Hamlets Council has joined in – putting out a press release warning residents about the scam and advising us to be vigilant. The Council points out that the only way to rent Council housing in the borough is to apply through the Council, which also controls lettings of most (though not quite all) of the social housing in the borough which is owned and managed by housing associations. For more information about these properties, go to: www.thhs.org.uk
However, while it is relatively easy to deal with the Council or a housing association, the real problem comes when a tenant is trying to rent in the private sector – either a property which has always been in private hands, or a former Council property which has been bought by a previous tenant. How can a tenant check up on a private landlord?
One way would have been to consult the Tower Hamlets Register of Private Landlords. Cllr Rabina Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing and Development in Mayor Lutfur Rahman’s Administration, made a priority of getting such a Register set up. The proposal went out to public consultation and was about to be implemented when the Election Court Judge removed Mayor Lutfur Rahman from office.
To date, John Biggs has not taken any steps to get the Register up and running. It was mentioned at the last meeting of the Council, when it was stated that a report will be going to the February Cabinet. This foot-dragging over a proposal which has already had a favourable public consultation cannot easily be explained. It is likely to make private tenants feel they are at the end of John Biggs’s list of priorities.
As if to rub salt into the wound, John Biggs has given some formal advice to residents trying to safeguard themselves from being scammed by fake private landlords. He said: “Wherever possible, Tower Hamlets Council will stamp out fraud. But it is also important for residents to be vigilant and to protect themselves from fraudsters who try to steal hard earned money by preying on the vulnerable.” In other words, unless and until John Biggs gets the register operational, you are on your own. Do it yourself. Private landlord checking has been privatised – sent out to be done by the private tenants themselves.
The Council has released some tips to residents about how to check a landlord – though it is by no means certain that a private landlord would have all these documents or wish to produce them to a potential tenant. (This is precisely where a landlords’ register can help, taking the job away from the individual tenants so that landlords don’t assume they are trouble-makers and will be difficult tenants just because they are trying to avoid being conned.)
The Council’s tips are: •ask the person who says he or she is a landlord to show you photo-ID and give you a photocopy of their ID document; •ask to see the landlord’s mortgage statement; •check up on the ownership of the property with the Land Registry; •check up on whether the landlord has any debts by using the free IVA check provided by the Insolvency Service website, available on: www.gov.uk/search-bankruptcy-insolvency-register
Although John Biggs does not point this out, in fact the Council has a very good housing advice service which can help private tenants. If you go to the “housing” section of the Council’s website, you can see what advice is available on a number of the pages in that section: it’s worth having a good look through. Maybe John Biggs should have a look at what is on offer too!
•You may also wish to contact Tower Hamlets Private Renters on: https://towerhamletsrenters.wordpress.com
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