Councils across England are to receive £5 million from the government to help them tackle rogue landlords.
The money will be divided between 48 councils so they can take on unscrupulous landlords that force tenants to live in squalid and dangerous properties.
The funding will pay for more raids, inspections of properties, statutory notices and also allow councils to root out the so-called ‘beds in sheds’ – the illegal makeshift bedrooms in garages and outhouses.
Protection for tenants against retaliatory eviction when they have a legitimate complaint will also be introduced.
The money comes on top of the £11.7 million already distributed to councils to tackle rogue landlords.
Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said the measures will not hamper the vast majority of landlords.
Lewis said: “Many private rental tenants are happy with their home and the service they receive, but there are still rogue landlords that exploit vulnerable people and force their tenants to live in overcrowded and squalid accommodation.
“We are determined to tackle these rogues which is why we are providing 48 councils with extra funding, so they can get rid of the cowboy operators in their area and bring an end to tenants living in miserable homes in the name of profit.”
Nearly 40,000 inspections have taken place in properties with over 3,000 landlords facing further enforcement action or prosecution since 2011.
It is part of a package of measures in the Housing and Planning Bill that includes a new database of rogue landlords and property agents convicted of certain offences, banning orders for the most serious offenders and civil penalties of up to £30,000.
“We also want to raise the quality and choice of rental accommodation across the sector. The funding will ensure tenants know what level of service they can expect and have confidence to get help and take action if things go wrong,” said Lewis.
“The poor quality, overcrowded and dangerous accommodation let by rogue landlords can result in a ripple effect of wider problems in the local community such as noise problems; sanitation issues for whole roads; greater fire risk; council tax and benefit fraud and anti-social behaviour such as street drinking,” he added.
Richard Lambert, CEO of the National Landlords Association, said: “This funding is a good start, but we’d like to see the government go further and extend it across the country so that all local councils have the funds they need to crack down on criminal landlords.
“Currently, all proceeds from landlord prosecutions go directly to HM Revenue and Customs. If councils were able to keep hold of these proceeds, it would provide a boost to their funds and a greater incentive to continue to tackle the very worst of the sector.”
Measures in the Bill include:
-A database of rogue landlords and property agents convicted of certain offences.
-Banning orders for the most serious and prolific offenders.
-The introduction of civil penalties of up to £30,000 as an alternative to prosecution.
-The extension of rent repayment orders to cover illegal eviction, breach of a banning order or failure to comply with a statutory notice.
-More stringent fit and proper person test for landlords of licensable properties such as houses in multiple occupation.
From 1 February landlords in England will have to carry out right to rent checks to ensure potential tenants have the right to rent property in the country.
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It’s great that you are tackling rogue landlords who are giving us a bad name.
However my concern is that the government seems extremely negative about private landlords in general, despite the fact that decent landlords are helping lots of people find a home that they want to live in, in the area of their choice.
But what about our protection from rogue tenants? If a tenant refuses to pay their rent for instance, it can take months to get our property back and it can potentially be very costly with rent loss and court fees. Most of which the landlord doesn’t get back. How can this be solved and how do we claim back our loses? Can we have access to a database of rogue tenants?
I think tenants and landlords alike should have more rights and protection along with the responsibilities to each other.