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Councils handed share of £4m to stamp out rogue landlords

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
03/01/2020

The move is intended to strengthen councils’ powers to raise standards in the private rented sector

More than 100 councils in England have been given a share of £4m in government funding to stamp out criminal landlords.

The funding will be used by local authorities to take enforcement action against rogue landlords who provide unsafe or inadequate homes and to help tenants understand their housing rights.

Councils can already force landlords to improve the standard of rental homes through civil penalties and banning orders, for example.

The new grants are intended to support councils that are trialling new ways of tackling rogue landlord behaviour, sharing those ideas with other local authorities and clamping down on landlords that flout the rules.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “This government will deliver a better deal for renters. It’s completely unacceptable that a minority of unscrupulous landlords continue to break the law and provide homes which fall short of the standards we rightly expect – making lives difficult for hard-working tenants who just want to get on with their lives.

“Everyone deserves to live in a home that is safe and secure and the funding announced today will strengthen councils’ powers to crack down on poor landlords and drive up standards in the private rented sector for renters across the country.”