Councils should receive a fund to help them purchase private rented homes in a poor state of repair, Labour’s Manchester mayoral candidate has said.

Andy Burnham also pledged to introduce a licensing scheme for private landlords across Greater Manchester and gain powers to regulate rent increases and property standards.

He wrote a blog for trade magazine Inside Housing in which he proposed measures to tackle the housing crisis and the “scourge of absent, private landlords that bedevils much of Greater Manchester”.

Burnham suggests providing loan finance for councils to buy out private landlords if they believe they are not keeping their homes up to the ‘decent homes standard’.

He said his plans for a ‘community buy-back fund’ would “have a number of benefits”.

“First, it will quickly expand public housing stock,” he said.

“Second, it will bring rents down to an affordable level.

“Third, it will enhance the ability of councils to turn around struggling neighbourhoods. Fourth, it will bring down the housing benefit bill.”

Chris Norris, head of policy, public affairs and research at the National Landlords Association, hit back at the suggestions of rent control and the licensing scheme.

“What is disappointing is the almost immediate reversion to policies of intervention and control which are both outmoded and proven to fail.

“The people of Greater Manchester deserve better than promises to ‘seek’ powers to cap rents and drive investment from the area by licensing the good and well-meaning whilst the criminally negligent continue to ignore the law.”

But Norris added that Burnham was “right to recognise the paramount importance of having a home” and to create homes of different tenure.

He appeared to applaud the policy to buy-out “rogue” landlords, but added: “We might question whether the local community will thank Mr Burnham for effectively rewarding the poor and sometimes criminal performance of bad landlords with a golden handshake.”

Norris suggested the MP for Leigh might be better to work with “good” landlords in Manchester and ensure they were “treated like the valuable part of the community they are, so they could help lead the local buy-back he so desires”.

Burnham also wants to increase council and social housing in Greater Manchester’s ten boroughs by extending the £300m housing fund to pay for social and council homes. Currently the fund is limited to commercially-led housing development.

The majority of the fund should be to provide loans and guarantees to councils and housing associations to build more affordable homes for rent, Burnham said.

“A small proportion of the new homes will be designated ‘rent-to-own’: available on a long-term lease to people under 35 and giving hope of home ownership to generation rent,” he stated.

Manchester’s mayoral elections will be held next May. Burnham’s opponents have yet to be named.