It may be a New Year, but this doesn’t mean that rogue landlords have turned over a new leaf and resolved to improve the conditions inside their properties. Because of this, Sheffield and Barnsley Council have been awarded £400k to help them track down rogue landlords operating in their areas.
Government Funding Boost
The £400k grant awarded to Sheffield and Barnsley Councils is just a small part of a £4 million cash bonanza earmarked to help councils all over the UK eradicate rogue landlords. Kris Hopkins, the minister for housing, has agreed the funding alongside tough new legislation designed to clean up the private rental sector.
“The majority of tenants are happy with their home, but the private rental market is still afflicted by too many ‘unscrupulous Scrooges’: miserly landlords who rent dangerous, dirty and overcrowded properties without a thought for the welfare of their tenants,” he was recently quoted as saying.
23 councils across the UK have been allocated funding as part of the scheme. All of these have been identified as having a problem with sub-standard housing whereby properties are dangerously overcrowded and unsafe.
Severe Penalties for Rogue Landlords
Rogue landlords face all kinds of penalties should they continue to operate slum housing. Thanks to the new funding boost, councils such as Sheffield and Barnsley will have the resources available to tackle the problem and take cowboy operators to court. Landlords who flout the rules could end up with hefty fines as a result of their dodgy practices. Further measures to introduce an approval scheme for letting agencies are also planned.
