In a recent briefing to candidates vying for Metro Mayor positions in major cities, the Generation Rent campaign has called for robust action against unscrupulous landlords, advocating for the seizure of their properties. The campaign emphasizes the need for city leaders to create a dedicated fund to enforce interim management orders, allowing authorities to take control of private properties owned by negligent landlords.
Generation Rent asserts that winning candidates in the East Midlands, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, London, North East, South Yorkshire, Tees Valley, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, and York and North Yorkshire can play a pivotal role in ensuring secure, quality, and genuinely affordable homes for renters in their respective city regions.
The outlined proposals for the Mayoral candidates include:
- Establishing a comprehensive database documenting fines and prosecutions against landlords and letting agents.
- Collaborating with local police forces to curb illegal evictions through enhanced training and accurate incident recording.
- Setting up a dedicated fund to tackle the worst landlords and facilitate the seizure of their properties.
- Advocating for additional powers from the national government to regulate rents, fast-track developments, and approve licensing schemes within the region.
- Acquiring privately rented homes to provide social housing, reversing the trend of social housing transitioning into the hands of private landlords.
- Creating a renters’ forum to involve private renters in decisions pertaining to housing and broader regional initiatives.
Generation Rent particularly underscores the necessity of seizing properties, stating, “Private renters rely on our local authorities to take action if our home is unsafe and landlords are failing to meet minimum standards.” The campaign highlights the limited budgets at the local authority level as a hindrance to holding landlords accountable for hazardous conditions.
The briefing emphasizes that criminal landlords often operate across multiple local boundaries, making it challenging for a single local authority to address the issue effectively. Metro Mayors are urged to coordinate enforcement policies, share intelligence, and provide institutional support for legal action against rogue landlords. This support includes a fund to enable more prosecutions and infrastructure to manage properties seized through interim management orders, resources often lacking at the local authority level.