In one of the first actions of its kind in the UK, Merton Council has taken long-term control of 18 rental properties after a landlord persistently failed to license the homes and ensure they were ‘safe and suitable for residents.’

The council used special powers to take temporary control of the properties in August 2024. This one-year ‘Interim Management Order’ was made following complaints by the tenants about outstanding repairs and management of the properties.

Warnings issued

According to the Council, officers had issued several notices to the landlord under Merton’s Selective Licensing Scheme, but the orders were ignored for months. Council officers later followed those up with an inspection of the properties.

With Merton still seeing no reasonable prospect of the rental properties being licensed, it has now made a Final Management Order to take control of them for up to five years.

Landlord must still pay mortgages

It says it will direct the tenants’ rental income into ‘ensuring the management of the properties is to the standard it expects for tenants’. The owner, however, remains responsible for paying the mortgages.

Councillor Andrew Judge (main image), Cabinet Member for Housing and Sustainable Development, says: “This sends a clear message to rogue landlords: we’re committed to raising the standard of living for everyone, and we will clamp down on landlords who are not meeting their legal obligations to their tenants.

“Everyone deserves to live in decent housing, and we know there are many good landlords in Merton, but a handful are flouting their responsibilities to provide safe and suitable homes for tenants, particularly those in vulnerable situations.”