Posted 06.11.15
Housing Minister Brandon Lewis announced new measures that will aim to clamp down on criminal landlords who trap and cram vulnerable tenants in unsafe, overcrowded homes.
A new discussion paper sets out plans to improve standards of the England's shared homes by extending mandatory licensing to smaller and medium sized properties. Where a landlord fails to obtain a licence they are liable to pay a potentially unlimited fine.
The proposals intend to make it easier for local authorities to raise standards in houses used as shared homes by:
In addition, the Government is reviewing the information requirements when applying for a licence in order to simplify and speed up the process.
These proposed measures, which apply to England only, are in addition to those in the Housing Bill, which also further strengthen councils' powers to tackle poor-quality privately rented homes in their area.
There is an online form for comments - the closing date for these is Friday 18 December.
