Housing

Greater Manchester cracking down on rogue landlords


Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has received £128k to crack down on rogue landlords in the area.

The cash boost from Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will be used to establish a “rogue landlord hub”, targeting landlords and letting agents who flout the law through bad management or by housing tenants within neglected and unsafe homes.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “The majority of landlords in Greater Manchester provide decent homes and abide the law, but with this funding GMCA will be able to more easily bring negligent landlords to task.

“The establishment of this hub is just the starting point for a wave of activity we’re planning to improve Greater Manchester’s private renting offer – for both tenants and landlords. We’re also exploring options for an ethical lettings agency and working up a scheme designed to showcase the region’s good landlords and call out the bad.

“We’re determined to get renting right, improve relations between tenants and landlords, prevent tenants from reaching crisis point or becoming homeless, and oust the minority of private landlords causing tremendous harm to vulnerable people and local communities.

“Private rented eviction is one of the biggest problems and we need to put a stop ‘no-fault’ evictions. With more and more households becoming homeless due to being evicted from a private tenancy, it’s important we support new safeguards to protect tenants.”

Portfolio Lead for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure, Paul Dennett, said: “Everyone has the right to live in a home that is safe and secure, and it is vital we crack down on the small minority of landlords who are causing serious harm and dragging our communities down.

“There is some excellent work going on within individual districts, and through this hub we’ll pool best practice and resources to drive improvements for both tenants and landlords across the whole of Greater Manchester.”

The rogue landlord hub will: work to improve information sharing and enable collaboration across Greater Manchester’s districts; develop and share best practice and information to provide a more consistent approach across the city-region; provide advanced training for frontline officers to help bring more illegal landlords to justice through the courts; and deliver communications campaigns targeted at both tenants and landlords.

The scheme will initially run for three months across all boroughs of Greater Manchester and the results will be used to shape future initiatives that will continue to crack down on rogue landlords.

The first task of the Hub is to embrace and promote national legislation that’s come into force this month: the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 – a new law designed to make sure that rented houses and flats are ‘fit for human habitation’, which means that they are safe, healthy and free from things that could cause serious harm.

If rented houses and flats are not ‘fit for human habitation’, tenants can take their landlords to court and it’s important our tenants and residents are fully aware of these rights. The court can make the landlord carry out repairs or put right health and safety problems. The court can also make the landlord pay compensation to the tenant.

The new law is in addition to councils’ existing enforcement powers including Civil Penalties and Improvement Notices and Rent Repayment Orders.

Work to drive improvements in the private rented sector is just one element of a whole new housing vision launched earlier this year, and designed to transform homes and lives in the city region.

Visit www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/private-renting to find out more.

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Article Published: 20/03/2019 15:10 PM