The government is planning to make some changes to current housing policies that will give Walsall Council more power to crackdown on rogue landlords.
A new Housing Enforcement Policy aims to tackle those landlords that house their tenants in poor quality conditions. This will give the council legal powers to come down on landlords and agents who fail to carry out repairs and maintenance on their rented properties.
Part of the policy requires landlords to provide an electrical safety certificate to their tenants every five years and provide a minimum energy efficiency standard.
The news follows changes to Council Tax Reduction, which is set to be approved by the council in January 2022 and an additional licensing scheme for houses of multiple occupations in areas including Birchills, Leamore and Blakenall.
Full details of all policies can be found in the links within this article.
Councillor Adrian Andrew, Deputy Leader of Walsall Council said: “We want to do everything we can to improve housing standards and the lives of residents in our borough.
“These changes will support good landlords, support tenants and target funds where they are most needed.
“Our new enforcement policy gives us the power to tackle rogue landlords with robust and proportionate action, our proposed HMO scheme will give us greater oversight of the private rented sector, and our Council Tax Reduction scheme will give over 12,000 residents a council tax break through a new, simplified system.”
If you are concerned about the condition or management of a private rented home in the borough please get in touch with our Housing Standards team at TacklingRogues@walsall.gov.uk.