Lewisham launches 'rogue landlords taskforce' .. but a third of private rented homes still unlicenced

Lewisham Council has launched a new “intelligence-led” taskforce which aims to tackle non-compliant landlords, improve standards in the private rented sector and protect residents from unsafe housing conditions.

The council state that the new Rogue Landlords Taskforce will use data, local intelligence and targeted inspections to identify private rented properties where “landlords or other responsible people” are failing to meet their legal duties.  

The Green administration say that for the first time, a taskforce will focus on proactive enforcement, including inspections of licensed properties where there are concerns about compliance, suspected unlicensed properties, and areas where "intelligence suggests poor housing conditions, fly-tipping or poor waste management linked to private rented accommodation".  

Central to greater enforcement activity will be the "data-led toolkit" used to identify unlicenced properties and take enforcement action where appropriate.   

Following enquiries made by Salamander, we discovered that work on the creation of the data-led toolkit started at the beginning of this year, a number of months before the Green party took control of the council.

Lewisham has a large private rented sector and the council currently estimates that there are around 26,000 privately rented homes, making up just under a third (29%) of the borough’s housing stock.

Since 1 July 2024 the council has operated a selective licensing scheme aiming to regulate private rented homes.

Licensing schemes bring in income to councils from licensing fees, and enables them to allocate resources to undertake inspections, and where necessary take legal action when landlords fail to meet required standards. 

Nearly all privately rented properties in Lewisham that were not already covered by the existing licensing schemes for Houses of Multiple Occupations (HMOs) started to need a licence from 1 July 2024. 

While the selective licensing scheme was introduced by the last Labour administration, the new Green administration is claiming that increased action is being taken under their control.

They highlight that between the start of the current financial year (April 2026) and mid-August,  Lewisham council issued 153 enforcement notices – almost as many as in the whole of the previous year (155).  

They are keen to take the credit for imposing larger fines, totalling £160,875 since April – "more than double the amount issued during the previous 12 months".

However, their ability to charge larger fines is a result of the Renters Rights Act introduced by the Labour Government, which came into effect on 1 May.

The council has been keen to publicise its success in a recent case where landlords were fined nearly £18,000 for wrongful eviction. Over £12,000 of the fine was the council's legal costs and reportedly the tenant who was evicted is still homeless.

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The slow rate of registering private landlords

The selective licensing of the borough's private landlords began more than two years ago, although the council first started consulting on such a scheme five years earlier.

The slow introduction of the scheme has been matched by the slow rate of registration of landlords over the last two years.

In January 2026, the council claimed that the number of applications it had received from from landlords was 17,623, with the number of selective licences actually issued being 14,083. 

But as the estimated number of private rental properties that should be licenced is 26,000, this means that at the start of this calendar year just over half of relevant properties were in fact licensed.

Salamander’s enquiries found that that as of mid-August, the council had received 22,632 applications, with 16,921 licences granted.  

A spokesperson said: “A new and improved predictive model is being finalised over the next few weeks to inform targeted inspections as part of the rogue landlord taskforce.” 

So, while progress has been made, it would appear that more than 3000 landlords have not even bothered applying for a licence more than two years after the licensing system started.  In addition, there are over 5,711 properties waiting to be licenced.

More than 8,700, or over 33% of Lewisham's private rented properties still fall outside the licensing system.

Repeated pledges made by Lewisham politicians

At the launch of the new taskforce to tackle rogue landlords Natalie Thomas, Cabinet Member Safer Homes, Homelessness and Housing Services, said:

 “Improving conditions for renters in Lewisham has been one of my top priorities since I was appointed. Everyone deserves a safe, stable and decent place to live.

"Most landlords want to do the right thing, but we know there are still too many cases where tenants are being forced to live in properties that are mouldy, rat-infested or downright dangerous because their landlords fail to meet their legal responsibilities.

“By targeting rogue landlords, we can drive up standards across the private rented sector, protect residents and make sure those who break the rules are held to account.” 

Such bold words are not new from Lewisham politicians. 

Five years ago, at the Lewisham Council AGM in June 2019, Damien Egan, then Mayor of Lewisham, set out the action his administration had taken to tackle rogue landlords:  

“We have brought in planning changes to crack down on rogue landlords, stopping family homes being turned into squalid HMOs, serving 1,500 notices on private landlords legally forcing them to fix up those homes.”

But the reality is that in Lewisham, as with so many parts of the country, not enough action is being taken to support tenants and tackle illegal activity of rogue landlords. 

With so many landlords still not covered by the council’s licensing system, it is clear we have a long way to go to ensure that all landlords that break the rules are truly held to account in Lewisham.

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