The Department for Communities and Local Government has announced new measures for tackling rogue landlords and two new custodial deposit protection schemes.
The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) has been awarded a new license and from next year, there will be two new custodial schemes in England and Wales.
One will be operated by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) and the other by My Deposits, both of which currently run insurance-based schemes.
The Department for Communities and Local Government also announced a £5m fund to assist up to 65 councils in combating criminal landlords. It believes that 3,000 rogue landlords could now face further enforcement action or prosecution.
Greg Clark, the Communities Secretary, claims the fund will help councils with a large proportion of their private rental housing stock, particularly beds in sheds.
Councils will be able to use the funds to increase inspections of properties, conduct more raids, bring more prosecutions and demolish illegal buildings.
Clark states: “We’re determined to keep the country building and increase the supply of good quality homes that families want, both to buy and for rent.
“Key to this is rooting out the minority of landlords in the private rented sector that let out poorly-maintained and unsafe properties to vulnerable tenants, making their lives a misery.”1
According to the Department for Communities and Local Government, there are currently over 4.4m households renting privately.
Since 2013, almost 40,000 inspections have been conducted and more than 3,000 landlords are now facing further enforcement action or prosecution.
1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/two-new-custodial-tenancy-deposit-protection-schemes-announced/