Rental homes should be confiscated from private landlords who repeatedly break the rules and exploit tenants, the head of the Commons housing committee has told the Guardian.
Clive Betts, the chair of the levelling up, housing and communities select committee, said handing courts the power would create a “significant deterrent” to landlords who treated fines for letting out squalid, unsafe and overcrowded homes as simply a cost of doing business.
In its Living Hell series, the Guardian is shining a light on issues in the private rented sector, including the case of Mohammed Ali Abbas Rasool, a rogue landlord in London who caused misery for tenants for more than 10 years despite repeated fines, prohibition notices and bans.
One housing official involved in investigating Rasool’s case thinks he and other landlords built the expectation of fines into their business model “and take the hit”.
Labour has said if it wins the general election it will ensure all existing funding available for affordable housing is spent and it will assess the inherited situation to create a robust plan.
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “The small minority of criminal landlords who exploit their tenants can already be banned by councils and rightly should be.
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Rental homes should be confiscated from private landlords who repeatedly break the rules and exploit tenants, the head of the Commons housing committee has told the Guardian.
Clive Betts, the chair of the levelling up, housing and communities select committee, said handing courts the power would create a “significant deterrent” to landlords who treated fines for letting out squalid, unsafe and overcrowded homes as simply a cost of doing business.
In its Living Hell series, the Guardian is shining a light on issues in the private rented sector, including the case of Mohammed Ali Abbas Rasool, a rogue landlord in London who caused misery for tenants for more than 10 years despite repeated fines, prohibition notices and bans.
One housing official involved in investigating Rasool’s case thinks he and other landlords built the expectation of fines into their business model “and take the hit”.
Labour has said if it wins the general election it will ensure all existing funding available for affordable housing is spent and it will assess the inherited situation to create a robust plan.
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “The small minority of criminal landlords who exploit their tenants can already be banned by councils and rightly should be.
The original article contains 792 words, the summary contains 209 words. Saved 74%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!