More than 100 local authorities in England will share £4m in new funding to tackle criminal landlords.
Government funding to root out criminal landlords is welcome but inadequate to tackle the scale of the problem, the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has claimed.
Ministers have confirmed details of more than 100 local authorities in England which will share £4m in new funding, as part of what it describes as a “crackdown on criminal landlords”.
David Smith, policy director for the RLA, said: “We welcome the government’s focus on rooting out criminal landlords.
“For too long the debate has been driven by ideological calls for more regulation of the sector.
“What is needed is better enforcement of the powers already available to tackle the minority who bring the sector into disrepute.
“Today’s funding though is nowhere near enough.
“Instead of offering inadequate and sporadic pots of money, it is critical that the government provides proper, multi-year funding to enable councils to plan and prepare workable strategies to find the criminal landlords.
“This should be supported by councils having the political will to prioritise enforcement against the crooks rather than tying good landlords up in licensing schemes which do nothing to protect tenants.”
