Glasgow landlords are “bullying” tenants and failing to carry out basic repairs

More than 6,000 people contacted their local bureau to report problems last year, with more than 300 getting in touch with Glasgow Central Citizens Advice Bureau, one of eight in the city.

Many tenants are living in “appalling” conditions and face intimidation and threats.

The majority who have issues in Glasgow live in Govanhill in the south side or throughout the west end of the city.

Glasgow Central Citizens Advice Bureau manager Vincent Chudy said: “We’ve had 300 new clients with problems relating to private landlords in the last year.

“Most of the problems we see come from the Govanhill area, and from the west end around the Woodlands Road area right up to Maryhill.

“The main problem is not getting a deposit back at the end of the tenancy. Very often it’s an absentee landlord or a landlord giving a fictitious name and address.

“The other thing is the condition of properties – it can be appalling – toilets that don’t flush, kitchen units that are hanging off the walls and fridges that don’t work. A lot of the time the landlord does nothing about it. Vermin is another problem and repairs required to locks.

“We also hear of issues with overcrowding. If there are three unrelated people in a flat landlords have to register for multiple occupancy but that doesn’t always happen.

“Occasionally, we hear of landlord coming in on a weekly basis and raking around, or threatening to put tenants out in the street. It’s a form of bullying.”

CAS said the number of people contacting them about problem landlords throughout Scotland has increased by 23% over the previous two years, and amounts to 24 cases every working day.

The charity has called on the sector to clean up its act, and urged tenants to stand up for their rights and challenge unacceptable landlord behaviour.

CAS Housing spokesman Patrick Hogan said: “The figures we are publishing today are a shocking insight into the worst corners of the private rented sector in Scotland. While most private landlords are responsible and doing right by their tenants, our evidence shows there are far too many who are not.

“In today’s economy many Scots can’t afford to buy their own home, and yet there is not enough affordable social housing for rent. So many find themselves in the private rented sector – often paying higher rents than they can easily afford. This makes it more important than ever that standards are maintained at an acceptable level. Yet Scotland’s CAB advisers are seeing 24 cases every working day where lousy landlords are letting their tenants down.

“The specific case evidence is even more shocking. We regularly see incidents of poor quality housing, dampness and condensation, poor electrical wiring and unsafe appliances not being repaired with landlords too often responding to complaints by harassing, threatening and bullying.”

Graeme Brown, director of the housing and homelessness charity Shelter Scotland, said a growing number of people in private sector housing are also contacting their helpline.

He said: “Despite only representing 14% of all households in Scotland, 42% of all calls handled by our free national helpline in the last year were from people renting privately.

“All too often we hear of people living in disrepair, being evicted or rents increasing unreasonably, forcing families and individuals into the disruptive cycle of having to move house – every six months in some cases – preventing them from ever being able to put down strong roots and being part of a community.

“We want private renters to have the right and access to good quality, long-term homes, not just short-term housing.”

New laws passed by Holyrood last month will aim to overhaul the private rented housing sector and help make relationships between landlords and their tenants fairer.

Housing minister Margaret Burgess said the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill - which MSPs backed by 84 to 14 - would "provide a step change in improving the quality of private renting".

The bill sees the introduction of one type of tenancy agreement for all housing rents and will allow tenants to challenge excessive rent rises.

In addition, it will abolish the “no-faults” ground for repossession, which allows landlords to take back their property once an initial fixed period has expired.

Instead, there will be 18 separate grounds on which a landlord can seek to take back their property, with tenants able to take landlords to a tribunal if they are unhappy.

Mr Hogan added: “We are calling on local authorities and the Scottish Government to re-double their efforts to monitor the private rented sector and crackdown on those who are giving it a bad name. We also call on all landlords to make sure they are doing right by their tenants.

“But we also have a message today for private sector tenants: make sure you know what your rights are, and don’t put up with unacceptable behaviour from your landlord.”