Sheffield council fails to collect £200,000 worth of fines from landlords amid calls for stronger enforcement
“People are not getting the support they should be getting to deal with bad landlords”
A Labour councillor has criticised the process in which officers enforce standards for landlords as it was revealed that they have failed to collect a third of all fines issued over the past four years.
The shocking figures were revealed during the last full council meeting in June and show that of the £668,185.27 fines the council have issued, only £467,835.86 have been collected.
It means that landlords leaving residents in sub-standard conditions have been able to avoid paying a combined total of £200,349.41, money which would have otherwise helped support council services.
And as one third of all council fines continue to go unpaid, councillor Minesh Parekh has renewed his appeal to introduce stronger licensing schemes to protect private renters in the city.
“People are not getting the support they should be getting to deal with bad landlords” the Labour councillor told The Star.
“Fines are one of the many tools we have in our arsenal to tackle bad landlords, but even that tool when we’re issuing fines we’re not taking them back.”
Landlord licensing is an optional process councils can implement, whereby officers review privately rented properties before granting owners the ability to let in tenants.
In effect, it is intended to ensure that all properties meet a certain standard and that landlords are capable of dealing with renters’ concerns.
Between 2014 and 2023, Sheffield City Council introduced two select area licensing schemes, in which the power was used in districts within the Burngreave and Netheredge and Sharrow wards.
The local Labour party subsequently called on introducing the scheme city-wide, supported by new powers granted by the Government in 2024.
Nevertheless, it has failed to take off and despite coun Parekh gaining support for a motion to reintroduce area licensing schemes at a council meeting in February, he has been informed by the Housing Policy Committee that it “does not have capacity” for this kind of work.
“Licencing schemes essentially self-finance,” the Crookes and Crosspool councillor went on to say.
“A landlord has to get a licence - that pays for the officer time, that pays for the enforcement.
“We saw that with the Page Hall scheme and the London Road, Abbeydale Road, Chesterfield Road scheme.
“The amount they bring in pays for the enforcement and it delivers improvements for renters. It’s a win-win.”
Concerns were raised about whether licencing - which cost landlords between £750 and £1,000 during the previous schemes - would hike up rent prices, which coun Parekh acknowledged, adding: “It’s not something I can guarantee, but what this does guarantee is an improvement to the quality of housing and ensuring every home is up to a decent, habitable standard.
“That combined with the fact that landlords are increasing rents regardless makes me think, on balance, I’d rather have the scheme and people have decent homes to live in.”
He says that this has been a central mandate of his since first taking office in 2022 as residents, including students, continue to complain about their housing and landlords’ failures to respond.
“I moved to Sheffield in 2011 and I rented the whole time on until last year - over 15 years,” he added.
“I’ve got a range of experiences as a renter in Sheffield, some good, some fine experiences with landlords in the city, some really bad ones.
“But it was one of the factors that pushed me to run for council in the first place - I was living in a student house and my kitchen ceiling developed a large crack directly below the bathroom.
“So every time we showered we were worried it would fall through, but also water poured through so we had to keep a bucket underneath for six months.
“Our landlord basically ignored us until we threatened to withhold rent.”
He described his situation as “far from unique,” saying many private renters have their own story of housing failings.
“Why do we have to put up with this when the council could do something about it?” He said.
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