Over the past few months, Boston Borough Council has met with a number of landlords and letting agents to discuss ways in which we can work together to deal with waste problems that arise from rented properties including HMOs. We have seen some positive action and improvements in some areas, and we thank you for that, but there are other areas where problems with waste continues.

The Council spends a lot of time and resources dealing with accumulations of waste, collection of fly tipping and wheeled bin contamination arising from rented properties. We also deal with complaints from the public about waste related anti-social behaviour from rented properties. We provide a lot of information to help landlords, letting agents and tenants dispose of their waste correctly. We provide a door-to-door kerbside collection of household waste, a bulky waste collection service and provide details on how to access the household waste and recycling centre, e.g. the tip. However, unfortunately, we continue to deal with waste problems from rented properties in some areas and this is no longer acceptable. 

As a landlord or a letting agent, the Council can hold you responsible for the behaviour of your tenants, such as how your tenants deal with their waste in your property. As a landlord or letting agent, you are responsible for your tenants and have a responsibility to make sure they do not cause a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality, this includes things such as your tenants contaminating their bins, putting wrong items in the wrong bin, leaving bins on streets, fly tipping and allowing waste accumulations in gardens, or alleyways.

Section 43 Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, enables the Council to issue  a Community Protection Notice to a landlord or letting agent, if a tenants conduct causes a detrimental effect, of a persistent or continuing nature, on the quality of life of others in the locality and their conduct is unreasonable. A Community Protection Notice will be issued to an individual, a company or a body. Those served with a Notice, have a legal duty to meet the conditions set out in the notice, such as to put in place measures to control how tenants deal with their waste and to stop the detriment caused to others. If an individual served with the Notice fails to meet the conditions set out in the Notice, then they will breach the Community Protection Notice. Breaching a Community Protection Notice is a criminal offence. The penalty for breaching a Community Protection Notice is very serious, a person may be prosecuted and if convicted, receive a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale, currently to £2,500 or an unlimited fine in the case of companies or other bodies. An individual will then have a criminal record. At Court, an individual may also be required by the Court to do whatever is necessary to meet the conditions of the Notice. The Court may also serve a Criminal Behaviour Order on an individual, which will put controls to their own behaviour and activity, just because the conditions in the Notice have not been met.

The Council will provide a landlord or letting agent with a warning, a Community Protection Notice Warning, which sets out what they must to put things right, before a Community Protection Notice is issued. We do not want to take this action, many landlords and letting agents act responsibly and help their tenants deal with their waste. However, if the Council receives complaints about a property, or finds a rented property where waste is causing problem, we will not hesitate in taking this action. The anti-social nature of waste generated by some tenants in rented properties is unacceptable. We must work together to help improve the area for us all.

We will therefore contact you to in the next few weeks and months to talk about your legal responsibilities in respect to waste management at your properties. If we do not see a significant and improvement in how some tenants manage their waste, we will take formal action against the landlord or letting agent.

In summary, it is important for you to recognise your legal responsibilities for your tenants at properties which you control. We expect landlords and agents to engage with their tenants and provide information on how waste is segregated, stored and collected. We expect landlords and agents to monitor tenants regularly to make sure they are following the rules. If tenants do not follow the rules, we expect landlords or agents to put things right. This could be by re-educating tenants, sorting contaminated bins before they are collected and getting tenants to clear waste accumulations.

Your cooperation is appreciated.

Waste Services Team at Boston Borough Council