Rogue landlords in England to face curbs on housing benefit income, says Labour | Housing

Rogue landlords in England will face curbs on how much housing benefit they can receive if their properties are substandard, Angela Rayner has said as she announced an extra £350m for affordable housing.

The deputy prime minister presented the funding increase, adding to £500m already announced at the budget, as part of the government’s drive to build 1.5m homes.

Alongside the extra money for affordable housing, Rayner will set out plans next week to crack down on exploitative landlords. Under the plans, there will be a new licensing scheme, tougher standards and the ability to stop housing benefit going to rogue landlords.

The government said it was in response to problems such as that of criminal gangs buying large properties and putting vulnerable people in mouldy rooms with just a bed, then providing no care.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government highlighted other cases in which rape victims had been housed with sex offenders, and areas in Blackpool, Birmingham, Blackburn and Hull where whole streets had been blighted by open drug use and antisocial behaviour.

Rayner said the £350m of extra funding came at a time when councils were facing huge pressures to house people, including those in temporary accommodation. “For so many families, and their children, the security and safety of a home of their own remains firmly out of reach – and instead they have to live in temporary accommodation, including in B&Bs,” she said.

“This is unacceptable and is the result of the housing crisis we are facing head on. That’s why we’re driving forward on our plans to ensure a better future for everyone who needs a safe home, building on our plans to drive up living standards and build 1.5m homes.”

About 2,800 homes will be built with £300m of the pot through the affordable homes programme, with half for social rent; another £50m will go to the local authority housing fund to provide better quality accommodation.

There are more than 123,000 households in temporary accommodation, including nearly 160,000 children, and almost 6,000 families with children are in B&Bs.

The £500m for affordable homes was first announced at the budget for 5,000 builds, while the overall programme is worth £11.5bn and is expected to result in up to 130,000 new homes by 2026.

Asked whether she was worried about the 1.5m target being met, Rayner said she was “determined” to meet the challenge. “We will meet that target because we can’t afford not to,” she told broadcasters. “We have 1.3 million people waiting on housing waiting lists, there isn’t a person listening to this show that will not know somebody who is desperate to get on the housing ladder. So, therefore, we’re determined to turn that tide.”

A report from the charity Shelter last year suggested England needed at least 90,000 social rent homes built a year for 10 years to clear social housing waiting lists and house people who are homeless.

Earlier this week, Rayner and Keir Starmer joined King Charles on a rare joint engagement to see a housing project. He took the politicians on a visit to a Cornish development he inspired.

Downing Street denied dragging the king into politics. Starmer is said to have expressed an interest in seeing the development in person, with Charles offering to show him around and the prime minister and his deputy accepting the invitation.