Councils across the country are being invited to bid for £4 million to help them crackdown on what the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government call ‘criminal landlords. This is now the second time funding has been made available to crack down on what last year the MHCLG called ‘rogue’ landlords. Our previous post can be read here.
The money will be made available for councils to step up enforcement action against landlords breaking the law and providing an inadequate service to their tenants. The government hopes that with this money families and vulnerable people who feel trapped will get the assistance they need against a small minority of landlords.
Whilst local authorities have the powers to force landlords to make any necessary improvements to a property, they can also impose fines and banning orders. However, with this money it is hoped that their powers will be further strengthened by training more inspection officers and creating new technology designed to enable them to take action rather than completing paperwork.
In support of this additional funding the government has revealed that Burnley local authority fixed over 100 hazards across the properties they inspected. In some instances, the local authority used the funding they received to rehouse tenants in poor accommodation into quality accommodation.
The government is also reported to have said that this funding allows good landlords to thrive, helping hardworking tenants rent good privately-owned properties.
We were somewhat sceptical about the amount of funding being made available last year and this increase clearly demonstrates that more money was needed. However, the news from Burnley appears to be positive and it is assumed that further projects like this will produce similar results.
Disclaimer
The contents of this blog post is not legal advice and is provided for general information purposes only. If legal advice is needed readers should contact a solicitor. No responsibility for any information contained within this post is accepted and PainSmith solicitors accepts no liability in respect of the contents or for action taken based on this post.
Published 12 November 2019
