Barred operators with housing convictions still renting out properties, Guardian and ITV News investigation finds.
Convicted landlords who have been ruled unfit to rent out their properties are continuing to operate by exploiting loopholes in the law that is supposed to protect the most vulnerable tenants.
The rogue owners are collecting rents – often funded by taxpayers via housing benefit – despite being convicted of housing offences and failing to pass the “fit and proper” person tests required by housing legislation in England and Wales, an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News has found.