New UK Gov Measures will clamp down on criminal landlords who trap and cram vulnerable tenants in unsafe, overcrowded homes, Brandon Lewis announced.
A national minimum bedroom size could be introduced under plans to combat overcrowding and rogue landlords. Local authorities in England could ban rooms smaller than 6.5 sq m from being let as bedrooms in licence applications for multiple occupancy houses. The Department for Communities and Local Government is setting out the plans in a discussion paper. Housing minister Brandon Lewis said some landlords provided "simply unacceptable" living accommodation. The paper, announced by Mr Lewis, sets out plans to improve standards of shared homes by extending mandatory licensing to smaller and medium-sized properties. Any landlord who fails to obtain a licence would be liable to pay a potentially unlimited fine . Mr Lewis also said : "It is simply unacceptable that people are living in cramped, unsafe accommodation provided by landlords who are more interested in a quick profit than the safety or welfare of their tenants. "The actions of these rogue l...