Coventry council received nearly 700 complaints against private landlords last year - but prosecuted nobody.
Exclusive figures were obtained by CoventryLive from Freedom of Information requests made by the Residential Landlords Association.
Experts have warned that “landlords are breaking the law” and “getting away with murder”.
A total of 675 complaints were made to Coventry City Council against rogue landlords in 2017/18, the data shows.
The council, though, made no prosecutions.
Local authorities ultimately have responsibility for regulating the private rented sector.
In April 2017 the government gave them the power to take action against rogue landlords who flouted the rules by prosecuting them.
At the time, Housing and Planning minister Gavin Barwell said: “These measures will give councils the additional powers they need to tackle poor-quality rental homes in their area.
“By driving out of business those rogue landlords that continue to flout the rules, we can raise standards, improve affordability and give tenants the protections they need.”
But experts say little has changed since the rules came into effect.
Fines and notices for hazards
Councils were also given the power to impose fines of up to £30,000 as an alternate measure to prosecution.
This is known as a “civil penalty”.
The figures show that no landlords in Coventry were served civil penalties.
There were, however, 210 housing health and safety rating system (HHSR) inspections carried out in 2017/18.
This is usually the first step taken by local authorities if they believe a property contains hazards.
Common hazards include things like damp and mould growth, a faulty gas boiler, or fire risks.
Watch: What are your rights as a tenant?
Local authorities can then take enforcement action following the result of the inspection.
No landlords in Coventry were served a hazard awareness notice by the council.
This is a warning the council gives to the landlord that says they are aware of a problem in the property but that they will take no further action at the moment.
The notice must give details of the hazard concerned and what is needed to deal with it.
There was one improvement notice issued to private landlords in Coventry for what are known as category 1 and category 2 hazards.
A category 1 hazard is one that poses a serious threat to a tenant’s health or safety. This can include things like exposed wiring, leaking roofs and rat infestations.
Less serious or less urgent hazards are classed as category 2.
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The council issued no prohibition orders to private landlords in 2017/18.
This restricts the use of part or all of the property and can also place a limit on the number of people living there.
This type of action is usually enforced when hazardous conditions pose a serious health and safety threat but practical repairs are not possible, usually because of the cost.
It can also be enforced when facilities are unsatisfactory for the number of people who live there.
Councils can impose emergency remedial action against landlords.
This happens when it is likely that a tenant will suffer serious harm in the near future if conditions do not improve. The council can then complete the work itself and charge the landlord.
There were no instances where this took place in Coventry.
What did the council say?
Cllr Ed Ruane, cabinet member for housing and communities, said: "The local authority needs to do more to improve standards in the private rented sector where a minority of landlords act irresponsibly to their tenants.
"The council introduced a new policy to enforce standards in the private sector housing in November and has already had a number of cases where it is pursuing civil penalties against landlords."
Now, the council is also consulting on a selective licensing scheme across the city.
Cllr Ruane added: "The selective licensing scheme, which would give us more enforcement powers and help to build up our housing team, is currently out for consultation.
"The numbers have been fairly low because we don't have the same staffing levels. This scheme getting the go ahead would bring these levels back up."
Landlords get away with it
Jacky Peacock, director at Advice4Renters, said: “Local authority budgets have been stripped to the bone but still, they all could be doing much more.
“Many of these things that councils can impose are duties not laws, so they don’t have to impose them.
“Councils often can’t dedicate the budget to focusing on these sorts of issues.
“Landlords know that they can get away with treating tenants like this because so few tenants actually know their rights.
“The whole thing is just a mess.
“Councils are reluctant to go against private landlords because in most in most areas there is a homelessness problem, so there is a real conflict because councils often house homeless people in these properties.
“It sends the message that landlords can get away with murder.
“Landlords are breaking the law and they know they are.
“We have argued for decades that there has to be a new regulation come into place because the most vulnerable people - those on low income jobs, for example - are terrified of going against their landlord and complaining to the council for fear that the landlord will evict them, and they will then be homeless and could end up living on the streets.”
“They don’t want to take that risk of being made homeless.”
Overall there were at least 101,614 complaints made against private landlords in England and Wales in 2017/18 - resulting in just 996 prosecutions.
More than two-thirds of councils (67 per cent) brought no prosecutions against private landlords in 2017/18.
The figures also show that 89 per cent of local authorities did not impose civil penalties on rogue landlords either - despite having the power to do so.
More than half (59 per cent) of the local authorities reported that they did not even have a policy in place to use the powers.
Call for national register of landlords
Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis said: “Everyone deserves a safe and stable home but as the number of social homes in Britain continues to fall, many people are being forced to live in unsuitable and, sometimes dangerous conditions, because of a small minority of landlords who fail to take care of their properties.
"This is especially true for renters in the most vulnerable circumstances - particularly those who are on low incomes, or who are trying to leave homelessness behind - who often have little choice where they live.
“This can’t carry on.
“The government must introduce a national register of landlords, with all private landlords and letting agencies required to join.
“This would help local authorities better manage private renting in their area, and bring landlords who flout the law and endanger their tenants to justice.”
David Smith, RLA policy director said:“These results show that for all the publicity around bad landlords, a large part of the fault lies with councils who are failing to use the wide range of powers they already have.
“Too many local authorities fall back on licensing schemes which, as this report proves, actually achieve very little except to add to the costs of the responsible landlords who register.
“Instead of policing licensing schemes, councils need to focus on finding and taking action against criminal landlords.”
Heather Wheeler, minister for Housing and Homelessness, said: “Everyone deserves a safe place to call home and we are committed to tackling the minority of rogue landlords who exploit tenants.
“Through fines and banning orders, we have provided councils with new enforcement tools and we expect them to use these powers to crack down on bad landlords.
“Just this week, we announced that more than 50 councils will benefit from nearly £2.4 million to take tougher action to protect renters and drive up standards across the sector.”