No Rogue Landlords Issued With Banning Orders In 12 Months

Not a single rogue landlord has been issued with one of the government’s new banning orders, a year after the key new power in the battle to root out the country’s worst rental property owners was launched. New laws which took effect in April 2018 mean that slum landlords handed one of the new bans by the courts are prevented from letting out housing across England. Their details must also be entered on to central government’s new rogue landlord database for local authorities to share. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/apr/15/no-rogue-landlords-issued-with-banning-orders-in-12-months

Slum Landlords Can Be Prosecuted From Next Month

Landlords who rent properties to multiple tenants face tough new licensing rules designed to protect tenants from next month.  HMO licensing already applies to landlords who rent their properties to five or more tenants from two or more different households where the property is three or more storeys. But from 1 October, any property let to five or more tenants from two or more households will be caught by the rules - regardless of the number of floors.  It means that 177,000 landlords across the UK will have to meet new minimum standards on room size and safety or face fines up to £30,000 and even criminal prosecution. Read more on the This is Money website.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/buytolet/article-6063461/HMOS.html

Council Sets Legal Landmark In Slum Landlord Case

In a landmark case, a London borough has become the first Council in the country to use the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) against slum landlords for breaches of licensing conditions. A Recorder at Harrow Crown Court ordered that POCA could be used to recover criminal assets that the Shah family obtained from cramming 31 tenants into living conditions described as “filthy and dangerous”. Brent Council officers discovered one woman living in lean-to shack next to the four-bedroom property in Wembley during a raid in July 2016. Read more on 24housing.

http://www.24housing.co.uk/news/council-sets-legal-landmark-in-slum-landlord-case/

MP Slams New Scheme Aimed At Helping Slum Landlords

A new scheme designed to assist landlords with housing repairs has been slammed by a local MP. Writing in his column in the Peterborough Telegraph, Stewart Jackson MP took aim at Peterborough City Council’s initiative to deal with so-called slum landlords. The scheme plans to assist these landlords with housing repairs using £1.2m of public money from the capital budget. In his article, Jackson wrote: ‘Yes – these are landlords currently collecting rents for tenants already living in their substandard or dangerous properties – but who apparently cannot afford to repair and maintain their own properties properly or meet the appropriate regulatory and licensing arrangements.’ Mr Jackson said he thought it was a disgrace that landlords expect the taxpayer to foot the bill for these improvements. Read more on the Landlord News website.