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<p>Local Authorities have powers under the Housing Act 2004 to assess the risks and
hazards in properties, and to require landlords or owners to remove hazards, and to
prosecute if they fail to do so. If a property is found to contain serious hazards,
the local authority has a duty to take the most appropriate action in relation to
the hazard. This could include serving a notice for the landlord to carry out improvements.</p><p>The
Government wants to crack down further on the small minority of rogue and criminal
landlords who exploit their tenants by renting out unsafe and substandard accommodation
and are taking forward proposals through the Housing and Planning Bill. The legislation
will enable local authorities to:</p><ul><li>access a database of rogue landlords
and letting agents helping councils keep track of them and target enforcement action;</li><li>seek
banning orders for the most prolific and serious offenders;</li><li>issue civil penalty
notices of up to £5,000 for certain breaches of housing legislation, ring-fencing
resources for housing compliance activity;</li><li>extend Rent Repayment Orders to
cover situations where a tenant has been illegally evicted, the landlord has failed
to rectify a serious health and safety hazard in the property or has breached a banning
order, allowing local authorities to retain the money for housing purposes.</li><li>apply
a more stringent ‘fit and proper’ person test for landlords letting out licensed properties.</li></ul><p><br>The
majority of landlords in the private rented sector provide decent accommodation with
surveys showing that 84% of tenants are satisfied with their accommodation, and staying
in their homes for an average of 3.5 years.</p>
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