Over £4m of funding has been made available for councils to crack down on criminal landlords and agents across England.
The money will be shared by over 100 local authorities, and used for enforcement action and to advise tenants of their rights.
One of the councils, Greenwich in London, will use the funding to trial new ‘spy’ technology to detect cold and damp homes.
Devices with sensors will be placed in rental homes where tenants have reported low temperatures, dampness or mould.
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.”
Announcement of the latest crackdown has met with a mixed response from the industry.
At the Guild of Property Professionals, compliance officer Paul Offley said: “We fully support this initiative as it will ensure that rogue landlords and letting agents are punished for breaking the law and it will also ensure that more tenants are treated fairly.
“With the funding providing councils with a means to crack down on illegal activity in the lettings market, tenants will have more protection and the standards of the rental sector will be raised.”
ARLA chief executive David Cox said: “The announcement is an important step forward in stopping unscrupulous landlords and letting agents.
“However, in isolation this is not enough to make a real difference; sustained investment is essential to provide effective enforcement, ensure training for local authority staff, remove criminal operators and protect tenants.
“We continue to call on government for mandatory regulation of the sector and an open database of rogue landlords and letting agents which will deliver better housing standards across the country.”
The Residential Landlords Association said that the £4m sum was inadequate.
Policy director David Smith said it was “nowhere near enough”, adding: “What is needed is better enforcement of the powers already available to tackle the minority who bring the sector into disrepute.”
Comments (3)
One of the councils, Greenwich in London, will use the funding to trial new ‘spy’ technology to detect cold and damp homes.
Tells you all you need to know about the scumbags employed by Greenwich Council.
In one breath Robert Jenrick says he wants to encourage “positive landlord/tenant/local authority relationships, particularly with vulnerable groups such as care leavers” and in the next threatens landlords because the tenant claims the house is cold. Having had more money squeezed out of them with s24 tax changes, will landlords now be required to spend disproportionately because the tenant cannot afford to heat the property?
Older houses in particular can be difficult to upgrade and the changes to minimum EPC requirements will mean many houses will be taken off the rental market. How about a fund to pay for improvements such as secondary glazing and better roof insulation? How about a proper tax break for landlords who improve the EPC rating of their houses?
If a tenant fails adequately to heat the property and that causes damp, mould etc and damages the fabric of a property, should the tenant not bear responsibility?
Another left lunitic council wishes to use spying technology. So will it detect thenants who do not act responsibly? Those who don’t use their heating as the council & social benefits are too low for some tenants to pay their fuel bills? Will it dectect those tenants who do not ventilate and heat their properties and dry washing indoors? This suggestion of using spying devices speaks volumes about the type of people running local councils.