The Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, says he is demanding the powers to seize usage or poor quality homes from landlords he declares to be rogue operators.

He wants the government to back his call for new powers and resources under a new city-region devolution deal.

The intention would be to bring in the new set of measures in place by autumn 2024, building on the forthcoming Renter’s Reform Bill and driven by Burnham’s existing Good Landlord Charter.

Burnham says: “I believe we will only get the sea change on housing that we need when we make a good, safe, secure home a human right in UK law.

“That change would require action on many more levels – including much great focus on the state of the existing housing stock and the urgent need to build hundreds of thousands of homes for social rent.

“Until that time, we are using what powers we have in our Trailblazer Devolution deal to set ourselves a 15-year new mission for Greater Manchester: a healthy home for all by 2038.

“In simple terms, that means a home that doesn’t damage your physical health through damp, mould and other physical hazards and doesn’t harm your mental health because you live in fear of eviction.

“To achieve this, we are proposing a complete re-wiring of the system to put power in the hands of tenants – but, in doing so, make it work better for everyone: tenants, landlords and local communities.”

The Mayor – a former Labour Cabinet minister- wants a mandatory decent homes standard plus:

– A package of UK-leading tenant protection measures, starting with an independent inspection regime of rented properties to find those homes below standards, which would empower tenants to report poor conditions and call for improvement while protecting them from eviction;

– The ability to create a ‘Property Improvement Plan’ for every rented home, giving landlords a tailored blueprint to get each of their properties up to the decent homes standard and beyond, and connecting them to funding and skilled contractors who can get the work done;

– Giving Burnham’s Authority the powers “to acquire properties from landlords who are unable or unwilling to meet standards, ensuring poor landlords exit the sector while retaining and improving their properties for local residents”;

– Enhanced enforcement teams within councils with the powers to protect tenants if they have problems with their landlord or home;

– A universal, mandatory Property Portal or register of landlords – a measure proposed within the Renters Reform Bill.