London 'Name and Shame' database launched

The database, published on the City Hall website, is aimed at giving Londoners greater confidence in renting a home by allowing them to check a prospective landlord or letting agent, as well as acting as a clear deterrent to the small minority of landlords and letting agents who behave dishonestly.

Ahead of its launch, records from 10 London boroughs (Brent, Camden, Greenwich, Islington, Kingston, Newham, Southwark, Sutton, Waltham Forest, Westminster) and the London Fire Brigade have been published on the database, meaning more than 600,000 renters can now check rogue landlords and agents in their area – equivalent to 25 per cent of all renters living across the city.

A further eight boroughs (Barking and Dagenham, Croydon, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Lewisham, Redbridge and Tower Hamlets) have agreed to submit records in the coming weeks. While he has no power to require local councils to submit their data, the Mayor has today outlined his hope that all other London councils will soon be taking part to help protect tenants living in their boroughs.

The Checker has three elements:

• a public online database of landlords and letting agents who have been prosecuted or fined by London boroughs or the London Fire Brigade, or expelled from letting agent redress schemes;
• a private online database for local authorities and the London Fire Brigade to share more detailed information about landlord and letting agent offences;
• a reporting tool to allow tenants and other Londoners to report rogue landlord and agent activity more easily.

Members of the public will be able to see:

• landlords and agents’ full names;
• what type of enforcement action was taken against them, for what offence, and what fine if any they received;
• who undertook the enforcement (i.e. London borough, LFB, redress scheme);
• the address of the rental property where the offence took place;
• and the street name and first four post code digits of the landlord’s home address (to help renters distinguish between landlords with the same name).

The database can be viewed here.