The recent cash injections awarded by the government to help some councils in their battle to weed out rogue landlords may lead to more Banning Orders being issued.

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Neil Cobbold a leading PropTech entrepreneur of a lettings payment automation service, believes that the recent ‘windfall’ to the selected councils may see more councils actually using the powers they were granted in the Housing and Planning Act 2016, to ban rogue landlords and lettings agents from the sector.

It took over two years until the first Banning Order was issued in September 2019 and just a few more have been issued since then. Those receiving banning orders will be penalised with a criminal record and banned from letting out a property or working with a third party to do so, within the private rented sector.

Cobbold says: "Banning orders are only reserved for the very worst offenders. We may see a number of penalty options used, but local authorities that do increase enforcement will show that they are serious about raising industry standards.

"With further legislation changes expected throughout this year, it’s important that the authorities do everything they can with the additional funding to ensure widespread compliance.”

Earlier this month it was announced that 100 local councils would receive an additional £4m in funding to combat rogue landlords and letting agencies.

Some councils have been explicit in how they will use their share of the cash - over 100 enforcement officers will be trained across Yorkshire and Humberside, and a Special Operations Unit will be set up in Northampton, for example.

"One of the biggest issues in the rental sector in recent years is the lack of enforcement of a rising number of regulations aimed at improving industry standards” Cobbold continues.

"More enforcement officers across the country would significantly help to increase compliance, meeting the government's goal of raising standards and discouraging rogue operators" he says.