Rogue landlords in England will face curbs on how much benefit they can receive if their properties are substandard, the government has announced as it unveiled £300m to build more affordable housing. The funding comes from within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s current budget and will add 2,800 affordable homes over the next year, according to the government.
Councils will also receive £50m, made up of £20m new funding and £30m reallocated, to add 250 homes to keep families out of poor-quality temporary housing like Bed and Breakfasts, the government said.
Conservatives argued Labour’s housebuilding plans “will do nothing to address the shortage of housing because immigration will just keep piling on the pressure”.
In its announcement, the government stated it will “imminently set out plans to crack down on exploitative behaviour by rogue and criminal supported housing landlords”. It said a new licensing scheme, tougher standards, and “the ability to stop housing benefit going to rogue landlords” are part of plans which will be unveiled next week.
The extra money for housing feeds into Labour’s manifesto pledge to build 1.5 million homes over the course of the Parliament. But there have been warnings that a lack of skilled workers in the UK could stand in the way of these plans.
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