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Rogue landlords have been put on notice as government has announced (28 December 2017) a raft of new measures to crack down on bad practices, stamp out overcrowding and improve standards for those renting in the private sector.
Housing Minister Alok Sharma has set out how, subject to parliamentary clearance, landlords renting properties in England occupied by 5 or more people, from 2 or more separate households will need to be licensed (regardless of how many floors the property has).
New rules will also come into force setting minimum size requirements for bedrooms in houses of multiple occupation to prevent overcrowding. As part of the licencing requirements, local councils will be able to make sure only rooms meeting the standard are used for sleeping.
Government has also set out details of criminal offences which will automatically ban someone from being a landlord. From April 2018, someone convicted of offences such as burglary and stalking can be added to the database of rogue landlords and be barred from renting properties.
For further information, please see the Gov.uk website;
