A councillor from Barking and Dagenham says it will not tolerate rogue landlords who flout the law.
Nearly a third of all housing in the borough is owned by private landlords and the council says it wants to work with them to make sure the standards they provide are decent and fit for people to live in.
A 51-year-old landlord was recently ordered to pay more than £11,000 after nine people were found in squalid conditions.
“We can’t bash landlords. There are many good landlords and we have a policy in the borough to work with them,” Councillor Margaret Mullane, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Enforcement, told Time 107.5. “But if somebody’s not prepared to work with us, ignore the enforcement, flouts the law, we have to go down the enforcement route and that’s the only way to protect the people of the borough.”
Barking and Dagenham’s private renting property licencing scheme, which licences landlords, is currently up for renewal from the government and residents are being asked to have their say.
“I would urge anybody who lives in the borough, works in the borough and would like to go online and look at the survey to tell us what you think of the Landlord Licencing Scheme,” urged Councillor Mullane. “It all helps makes to make the borough and the housing decent for everybody.”
She also urged residents to notify the council if they suspect a landlord is breaking the law.
Tags: Barking and Dagenham
