It’s part of a plan to improve standards across the city.
Salford council is taking action against landlords who flout the law.
Fines totalling £2.2m have been handed out in Salford in a massive crackdown on rogue landlords and unsafe housing conditions.
Private rental properties whose landlords have failed to listen to improvement or overcrowding notices have been hit in the pocket with penalties from Salford council as part of the scheme, which has been running in the city since 2017.
Fines have also been dished out for offences with houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), including licensing issues and failing to meet management regulations.
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Councils were given new powers in 2016 under the Housing and Planning Act to take action on housing enforcement, and can issue fines up to £30,000.
The government said at the time that a ‘small number of rogue or criminal landlords [are] knowingly rent out unsafe and substandard accommodation’ across the country.
Offences include:
- Failure to comply with an improvement notice
- Offences in relation to licensing of HMOs
- Offences in relation to licensing of houses
- Offences of contravention of an overcrowding notice
- Failure to comply with management regulations in respect of HMOs
Salford’s mayor says the work is about improving housing standards in the city.
Salford mayor Paul Dennett said driving up housing standards across the city is a major part of the council’s work.
“The whole enforcement side around the private rented sector is really important to the city of Salford,” he said.
“We’re supporting Greater Manchester local authorities with regards to the legislation and what’s possible around civil penalties, very embedded in devolution conversations around housing enforcement here, and very embedded around the operationalisation of the Good Landlord Charter.”
In July, the council said 26 landlords of HMOs in Salford were hit with fines worth more than £500,000.
An additional HMO licensing scheme launched in July 2021, leading to the inspection of 1,385 properties, and landlords having to address hazards and bring their properties up to minimum standards.
The scheme was designed to protect tenants and make sure their homes are safe.
Income from the penalties has been re-invested into the council’s housing standards and enforcement team to go out and inspect more properties.
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Coun Tracy Kelly, the council’s housing lead, said in July: “It is an absolute priority that all residents in Salford live in safe and well-maintained homes. So we have taken action against landlords who are not meeting these conditions.
“We introduced the licensing scheme to improve conditions for tenants and improve management standards. So far it has been a success. Landlords who do not comply with conditions will receive a visit from our enforcement officers and where necessary we will hand out fines.
“But the hard work does not stop here – we will continue to target landlords who fail to meet their obligations.”
Another way of driving up housing standards in Salford has focused on electrical safety standards.
Since October 2022, checks have been taking place at privately rented properties by families and single people, with 22 cases of enforcement and fines worth £103,225 in civil penalty notices – the first local authority in Greater Manchester to do so according to Salford’s mayor.
Mr Dennett added: “From a regulatory point of view, I want to assure your readers and the people of Salford that we take this work really seriously.
“The Good Landlord’s Charter is something I have the honour and privilege of launching on behalf of Greater Manchester, and Salford really is in pole position in the vanguard really around housing enforcement.”