A rogue landlord is letting out properties as emergency accommodation via a third-party provider, The Bristol Cable reports.
Naomi Knapp, the owner of 29 properties, was handed a ban by Bristol City Council in 2022 for fire safety breaches and poor conditions in multiple HMOs.
She temporarily evaded the ban in 2023 by using Airbnb, while the homes are now long-term let via provider Auvelle Housing.
The revelation means that Bristol City Council, which pursued the original five-year banning order against Knapp, is paying the rogue landlord indirectly.
Renhard, a councillor for Horfield, told The Bristol Cable: “There is a question here [around money going to Knapp] – if we’re going to ban landlords because their properties are substandard, and then use them, and pay them, that makes a mockery of the point of the banning order.”
Emergency accommodation is a type of temporary housing generally offered to those with the greatest short-term need.
Some 126,000 households across the UK live in temporary accommodation while they wait for social housing.
Until May this year the council was Labour controlled, but it’s now run by the Green Party.