Property portal launches tradesmen blacklist

A property and social network portal has launched a first of its kind Tradesmen Blacklist of rogue traders that have a criminal record.  

In unveiling propertyheads.com/tradesmen_blacklist PropertyHeads.com says there is now a single trusted source of cowboy builders and workmen available to the general public. 

With more than 1,000 names recorded in the Tradesmen Blacklist, homeowners are invited to report rogue traders on the portal, so they can be added to the database. Users can search the portal’s database of hundreds of convicted tradesmen, as part of their background checks when looking to hire some help.

But the Blacklist is about more than just cowboy builders and fraudsters, PropertyHeads.com has added 'several convicted murderers and rapists' to the database.

Research from the Traders Blacklist reveals that the majority of rogue traders are builders (26%), followed by roofers (17%), driveway traders and gardeners (13%), painter and decorators (11%), plasterers (10%), bricklayers (6%) and carpenters (4%).

Many rogue traders are repeat offenders and some have more than 50 convictions. High risk areas include County Durham, Kent and Essex with low risk areas including Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire and Greater London, according to PropertyHeads.com.

Ben Davis, CEO of PropertyHeads.com comments: “Three things struck me when we put together the Tradesman Blacklist. Firstly, rogue tradesman will go to extraordinary lengths to mislead their victims including faking their own cancer and using vehicles with government agency sign-writing. Secondly, even those with seemingly reputable backgrounds – we have several ex Police and military in our Blacklist – are capable of awful crimes. And third, the sheer number of victims involved.

“If our Blacklist helps just one homeowner avoid being ripped-off, then we will have done a good service.”