Guidance for landlords on how to legally throw away waste from your property.
If your rubbish is discovered to have been thrown away illegally, even by your carrier, you could face prosecution by the Environment Agency.
- Leaving rubbish in the garden could result in a £2,500 fine.
- Illegally depositing waste on the street could result in a £50,000 fine and up to 5 years imprisonment.
Landlord's responsibilities
As a landlord, you must make sure:
- your tenants throw their waste away correctly, responsibly and safely
- any bulky items (i.e. mattresses, furniture etc.) left at the property are removed appropriately and legally from the premises. You can book bulky waste collections.
- when using a waste carrier service, the contractor has a Waste Carriers Licence and a Duty of Care waste transfer note, which states the description and disposal route of the waste. You can find your nearest registered waste carrier or take the waste to your nearest licensed disposal site.
Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) landlord responsibilities
All of the responsibilities listed above apply to HMO landlords. In addition, if a HMO landlord’s tenant exceeds their 180 litre household waste and/or 240 litre recycling bin service allocation and does not take responsibility for their rubbish, the liability is with the landlord.
The HMO landlord must organise a collection of the waste, either through a private waste collection contractor, or the council’s trade waste collection service. Email tradewaste@slough.gov.uk to use the council's trade waste collection service.
Landlord's waste responsibilities when a tenant has left
Once a landlord’s property becomes vacant, any rubbish or unwanted items left by the tenant is no longer household waste. It becomes commercial waste. This is waste generated as a result of a business and it is the duty of the landlord to ensure its safe and correct removal. A skip, direct delivery to a private disposal point, or professional removal services will be required to remove the rubbish.
The Waste Transfer Station at Chalvey is available for trade waste at a charge. Please note the Household waste recycling centres are licensed for household waste only, so is not available to a landlord.
Reporting the illegal dumping of waste by tennants
If you are a letting agency or landlord, you can report your tenants who throw away rubbish illegally by email: ResilienceandEnforcementTeam@slough.gov.uk.