What has been happening in the housing news week? Landlord Law gives you some highlights in our weekly blog.
Fraudulent tenancy applications on the rise thanks to AI
Goodlord has carried research on fraudulent tenancy applications and it has found that these are costing landlords and letting agents £9,600 per tenancy. The loss calculated equates to loss of rent, illegal subletting.
Scamming has increased by 40% in the last year with fraudsters becoming a lot more sophisticated creating bundles of bogus documents such as bank and employment references and ID’s using AI technology building a raft of false information that landlords rely on when assessing a tenant.
A spokesperson from the NRLA said
This report should act as a wakeup call for landlords across the sector. The market is now falling prey to increasingly sophisticated types of fraud and landlords need to take every step to protect themselves from these risks.
This type of fraud is now costing the industry £4.1billion a year and rapidly rising.
Right to buy sales increase
Government data reveals that 14,275 council homes were sold under the Right to Buy scheme in England during 2025-26, which was an increase of 90% compared to 2024-25. Maybe this was a rush to take advantage of the right before new rules come into force.
These will increase the minimum eligibility period and reduce the discounts available.
Rachel Springall, finance Expert at Moneyfactscompare.co.uk, said
the amount of homes sold under the scheme does create a dilemma for the wider housing market, as social housing stock needs to be replaced.
Tackling the provision of social housing was part of the first official speech from the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, stating “we will build more council homes”. While this comment is positive, the scale and pace to achieve significant numbers of new dwellings has to be bold to cater to high demand.
A study from the Resolution Foundation revealed that 1.3 million households are on local authority housing waiting lists, the highest number since 2014, plus, there is a near-record high of households living in temporary accommodation.
The lack of council housing means that there is usually no alternative for low-income families but to rent more expensive private sector accommodation.
Heavy fines on landlords proposed by Council
Local Authority Officials can’t just fine who they like. They need to follow their Council’s enforcement policy.
For example, Bath & North East Somerset Council is proposing to toughen its enforcement policies as part of a policy update following the introduction of new rules under the Renters Rights Act.
Starting penalties are being proposed of £12,000 for electrical safety issues, and £20,000 for failure to comply with HMO fire standards.
They are also proposing an extra 50% to be added to the penalty under new rules which allow additional penalties to be charged where non-compliance continues. For example, we are told that Bath and NE Somerset are looking to add 50% for
- previous non-compliance, including a financial penalty, prosecution, simple caution or warning letter;
- the breach or offence having continued for more than six months;
- alleged non-cooperation with the council, including “failing to provide a substantive response to a letter alleging an offence”;
- alleged deliberate or reckless breaches, such as knowing an offence was occurring;
- HHSRS Category 1 hazards present at the property; or
- actual harm caused to the tenant or occupant.
How to check the policy in YOUR council
Bath and NE Somerset are not the only Council drafting new policies. Landlords are advised to check their own Council’s policy.
You can do this by doing a search on the internet on “[Your council name] Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy” and seeing what comes up. If, as is likely, you get a link to the policy document, check the implementation date. If this is before 1 May 2026, then this will be your Council’s old policy which has not yet been updated to take account of the new rules. So you should check again later.
If you can’t find the policy online, your Council should let you have a copy of their policy on request.
Landlord Law members can find out more about Local Authority Enforcement action in our special kit.
More tenants using AI to create complaint letters
Reports show that more and more tenants are doing this. However, many AI-generated letters will be incorrect. AI has a tendency to give you what you want to hear and is known to make things up.
However, landlords and agents still need to respond to these often complex complaint letters and try to work out what is correct and what is not. Greg Tsuman, a former Propertymark President saying
With the rise of AI, we have seen a spike in complex and intricate complaints. We are now having to spend time and effort addressing multipart points and complaints that are sometimes without grounds.
AI tends to be very much user-biased – it can tell you what you want to hear, and it can lead people into a potential false sense of awareness where the complaint might be without true merit.
Tenants wanting to check the law might consider using the Renters Guide, as this is written by a solicitor (me) and is more reliable than an AI answer would be. This site is based around questions, and if your question is not there, you can submit it for us to consider adding.
Snippets
Landlords wanted to test a new comparable properties pack
Councils complicated crackdown on HMO locations
Landlords feel unfairly blamed for housing crisis
Section 21 gas safety battle heads to Supreme Court
See also our Quick News Updates on Landlord Law
Newsround will be back again next week
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