The government’s recent report on vacant social housing highlights once more the slackness of local authorities during the boom years.

Is it really necessary for them to be told to carry out inspections of a property when a tenant has given notice that they intend to vacate the unit? Do they have to be told that any “additional costs by the council on carrying out works that were assigned to the tenant should be charged to the tenant”? Does it have to be spelled out that regular inspections of properties should be carried out? Apparently so, as these are recommendations in the report. A part-time landlord would know all of this but apparently the biggest landlords in the country did not.