Council judged to have 'serious failings' after rents charge error

MID Devon District Council has been found to have 'serious failings' as a landlord.

- by SUE KEMP [e-mail] @DevonLiveNews

The judgement was made by the Regulator of Social Housing after the coucil charged more than 2,800 residents incorrect rent amounts - and was found to be in breach of its standards.

Last year the council was told 1,243 of its tenants had been overcharged and 1,622 undercharged. It made a self referral to the regulator in September 2024, following the discovery of a historic error in the way it applied formula rent to the majority of tenants.

Since then the council has worked with the regulator and tenants to rectify the error as soon as possible.

All tenants were contacted by the end of that year and informed whether they had been under or overcharged. From January, rents were adjusted for those who had been paying too much.

Tenants who were overcharged - some for as long as six years - are to get a refund. Those undercharged will not be asked to pay money back.

A council spokesman said the judgement does not alter its process to refund any money nor does it change the position regarding any underpayments.

It will continue to engage constructively with the regulator to address the legacy of the historic issues that led to this situation and has a dedicated team in place to support this.

The Regulator of Social Housing published its judgement on April 30. It said: “Our judgement is that there are serious failings in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the Rent Standard and significant improvement is needed.