Sir, It need not be difficult to prevent rogue landlords ripping tenants and the taxpayer off with seriously substandard or overcrowded properties and ineffective regulatory powers (“Lords of Misery” leader, Oct 17). Taking a leaf from government policies that continue to confiscate substantial proportions of publicly owned property assets, unsatisfactory landlords who refuse to upgrade and maintain their properties to a reasonable standard should be deprived of those assets and lose similar proportions of their values as has happened to local authorities and as is now being proposed to other social housing providers.
Blacklisting offending landlords would be a waste of time until an adequate supply of affordable housing becomes available either for rental or purchase.
Public authorities need sharp teeth, not platitudes, to deal with a totally unsatisfactory housing shortage.
Owen Jubb
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Cheltenham, Glos
Sir, As a veteran of the UK residential letting industry, I can only endorse the headline “Families at mercy of rogue landlords” (Oct 17). In the wake of enormous increases in buy-to-let and the continued widespread abuse of vulnerable tenants by a significant minority, I believe it is time for compulsory national registration of all residential landlords. Without active registration, any landlord of a self-contained dwelling in the UK would be barred from accepting rent and housing benefit or bringing enforcement/possession action in the courts.
Jeff Arundell
Bath
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