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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Give councils power to ‘confiscate’ properties from rogue landlords, say MPs

Local authorities should be given the power to confiscate properties from landlords who break the law, according to a committee of MPs.

In a new report, the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee calls for vulnerable tenants to be given greater protection from rent hikes, harassment and retaliatory evictions.

Although the committee accepted that recent legislation has strengthened protection for tenants, it calls for local authorities to be handed more resources to undertake their enforcement duties.

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“Local authorities need the power to levy more substantial fines against landlords and in the case of the most serious offenders, ultimately be able to confiscate their properties,” said Clive Betts, chair of the HCLG Committee.

The HCLG committee said fresh funds should be made available to enable local authorities to undertake informal enforcement activities. It also wants to see local authorities publish their enforcement strategies online.

Betts added: “Stronger powers, harsher fines and a new commitment to cracking down on unscrupulous practices will go some way towards rebalancing the sector and protecting the many thousands of vulnerable residents who have been abused and harassed by a landlord.”

 

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    Using the information available on this site about rogue landlords, the majority are Asian and political correctness will stop this. What about rogue tenants?

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    • 23 April 2018 10:00 AM

    Especially now deposits have been capped, our clean up and repair bills have escalated. So we're going to crank the rents up to cover this. No choice. I'm wondering when it will be that useless clueless politicians finally concede that they have not got a clue?

     
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    • 23 April 2018 09:58 AM

    Grenfell Tower anyone?

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    The "what about Grenfell Tower?" comments that follow every report about measures to tackle rogue landlords are getting pretty tiresome and to be honest I think are way off of the mark.
    99.9% of landlords won't ever have to worry about civil penalties and property confiscation, these measures are about targeting the worst of the worst, the landlords who were never in it to do things legally or safely. I don't why anyone should feel threatened by measures that target this type of landlord.

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    grenfell was a bomb or at least bomb-making materials. cladding came via UN morons chasing the AGW con

    landlords are being subjected to civil penalties for trivial reasonns--local govts are voracious parasites

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    "Local authorities should be given the power to confiscate properties from landlords who break the law, according to a committee of MPs."

    Great idea!

    We can implement this right along with confiscating cars from drivers who don't obey the highway code, TV's from viewers who don't pay the license fee and leases from tenants who break the clauses in their rental contract. All of which break the law.

    Yep. Great idea.

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