Rogue landlords operating in the Newham borough of London had better look out over the coming year because council officers are taking no prisoners in their fight against poor living conditions for tenants living in private rented housing.
Landlord licensing scheme
Newham Borough Council in London is the first local authority in England to introduce a landlord licensing scheme. Landlords in Scotland are already subject to strict regulations, but Newham is the first English authority to have introduced a registration scheme in its attempt to rout out private landlords letting sub-standard properties for extortionate sums of money.
Rise of the slum landlord
There are known to be a high number of HMO landlords letting out poor quality housing in the Newham area. The local authority is determined to deal with the problem and dawn raids against suspect properties have become all too frequent in the last two years. However, all landlords in the private sector can expect a dawn raid if they fail to apply for a license and council officers think they may have something to hide.
The Mayor of Newham told the BBC: “The bad behaviour occurs in the bad properties: the anti-social behaviour, the mess in the garden. We need to go after them.”
So if you are a private landlord in Newham and you have applied for a license, you probably have nothing to fear. But if you are a rogue landlord, watch out because a crack team of police officers and council officials may be banging on the door of your properties in the very near future!
