NLA slams CAB report

A new report which claims that landlords earn in the region of £5.6 billion a year from unsafe homes which fail to meet legal standards has been slammed by the National Landlords Association (NLA). The Citizens Advice study report, A Nation of Renters, says 740,000 households in England now reside in privately rented homes which present a severe threat to tenants’ health from problems like rat infestations and damp. Gillian Guy, Chief executive of Citizens Advice, said, “Rogue landlords are putting profits before safety.” The Government is planning to give councils new powers to tackle unscrupulous landlords which own homes with a category 1 hazard, as part of number of proposals to be tabled in a new Immigration Bill. The details of the Bill, which will be a central part of the new Government programme will be announced in the Queen’s speech this week. “The Government has rightly said it wants to tackle the country’s housing crisis – it must make targeting dodgy landlords, giving tenants better rights and driving up standards a major part of that effort,” Guy added. But while recognising that bad practice does exist in private housing, “and that it needs to be stamped out”, Richard…