Recent revelations about the property market in Newham, London have led the Leader of the Opposition and Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Cllr Howard Sykes MBE, to request an urgent review by the Council of all private landlords in the Borough in both the residential and holiday let markets.

In the review by Newham Council almost half of the private landlords in their borough were not paying tax on rental income to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (the HMRC).

Reviews of the Land Registry also revealed that significant numbers of people with buy to let mortgages were not registering as landlords with the council and so were not having their properties checked for safety requirements.

In addition, the owners of many properties registered on AirBnB were not getting the required planning permission for using the whole of their premises for year-round short term letting.

Commenting Cllr Sykes said: “The situation in Oldham may be different than that of Newham, but we need an urgent review to find out.”

“The Liberal Democrats backed the introduction of an Accredited Landlord Scheme in Oldham to weed out bad landlords and to encourage good practice so we are anxious that this is not undermined by unscrupulous landlords in this borough evading the tax and council tax that is lawfully payable or avoiding safety checks.”

“By working with HMRC, Oldham Council can ensure that safety requirements are met and that the local and national taxes that are due are properly paid. This will surely help encourage our good landlords to do better and hurt those unscrupulous landlords who evade tax and cut corners, compromising the safety of tenants”.

Today, Councillor Sykes has written to Councillor Barbara Brownridge, who as the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Cooperatives has responsibility for private-sector rented housing, outlining his concerns and asking for an urgent review.