In November last year we wrote about the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) announcing a £2 million funding boost for local authorities to tackle ‘rogue’ landlords. In order to benefit from this additional funding local authorities were required to make a bid. The bidding process is now closed and the funds have been allocated. Our previous post can be read here.
More than 50 councils have qualified for the now slightly increased sum of £2.4 million for local authorities to take action against ‘rogue’ landlords. The money will be used to boost short term staffing and create new digital tools to “help councils to protect tenants”.
Among the councils to benefit are:
- Walsall – to improve cross-agency enforcement work, including the innovative use of drones and thermal mapping to identify problem properties
- Lancaster – to create a training programme for existing enforcement staff across the Lancashire region
- Greater London Authority (GLA) and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) – allocated over £330,000 between them to carry out coordinated work to tackle rogue landlords who operate across multiple local authorities in their regions
The Councils that will receive this funding will also be encouraged to share best practice and innovative approaches to improve enforcement.
Comment
There is no doubt that enforcement action is required due to a minority of landlords. However, how much of an impact this relatively small sum of money will make is yet to be seen.
Published 29 January 2019
