Property News · September 19, 2017

Sajid Javid should give councils free reign to tackle rogue landlords | Robin Wales & John Healey


In Newham, the council’s licensing scheme for private landlords has uncovered abuses and exploitation. So why isn’t the government interested?Sir Robin Wales is mayor of Newham and John Healey is shadow secretary of state for housingA mother with a baby charged £350 a month in rent for living in a shed, a family with two children charged £700 a month for a property condemned as dangerous, and a former council house overcrowded and cockroach-infested, with tenants being charged equally grotesque rents. These are just some of the abuses and outright exploitation that Newham council’s private rented licensing scheme has uncovered. Yet it could be cancelled by the government later this year if communities secretary Sajid Javid decides not to renew the scheme.The signs are not good. The government has already turned down an application from Redbridge council for a similar licensing scheme and former housing minister Gavin Barwell, now the prime minister’s chief of staff, has declared these common-sense schemes “misjudged and nonsensical”. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Sajid Javid should give councils free reign to tackle rogue landlords | Robin Wales & John Healey

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