Bristol City Council has had two complaints of beds in sheds in the past two years. The council has provided a breakdown of the complaints received by its private housing team between January 2022 and December 2023.
The data - obtained by a Freedom Information Request - also shows that, between January 2022 and December 2023, the council took enforcement action against 2,180 properties, with 678 informal improvement notices sent.
A total of 129 Hazard Awareness Notices were served in that time frame. The council also shared some more details about the type of complaints its Private Housing team have dealt with the past two years.
Read more: The Bristol area where HMOs are making life 'intolerable'
Read more: The Bristol street with more than a hundred HMOs
Hazards was the most common complaint (265), followed by tenancy relations (238) as well as damp and mould (145). Pests (22) and overcrowding (7) are other examples of complaints the council has had.
Here is a breakdown of the complaints Bristol City Council's private housing team had between January 2022 and December 2023, listed in descending order:
Hazards: 265
Tenancy relations: 238
Damp and mould: 145
Licensing management: 57
Pests (rats, mice, pigeons, fleas): 22
Trading standards (Redress, Tenants Fees Act): 16
Public Health (nuisance, smells, filthy and verminous): 12
Overcrowding: 7
Drainage: 2
Beds in sheds: 2
Disconnections: 2
Earlier this month, BristolLive was able to reveal that formal complaints about damp and mouldy conditions in social housing in Bristol had risen to a record high. Exclusive figures show that the Housing Ombudsman Service handled 32 complaints about leaks, damp and mould in the city last year, up from just two cases reported in 2020.
The streets in Bristol with the highest number of HMOs have also been shared by the council following an FOI. The figures reveal one street has more than 150 houses of multiple occupancy.
