Liverpool City Council is launching a taskforce to convict rogue landlords involved in criminality who exploit vulnerable tenants having received £2m in funding from a Department for Levelling Up pathfinder.
The aim of the Private Sector Housing Intelligence and Enforcement Task Force is to disrupt landlords who work with the likes of gangmasters and those involved in other types of exploitation, such as sex work and drug dealing.
A dedicated team has been recruited, giving the local authority additional resources to tackle the most complex types of cases, where often tenants are afraid to report crimes for fear of reprisals.
They will adopt an enforcement strategy after gathering intelligence and carrying out targeted enforcement to drive bad landlords out of the market.
They will also work with neighbouring authorities, as often the owners have properties across more than one area.
The taskforce was launched on Friday 1st December at a summit involving Liverpool City Council and partners at the Cunard Building.
Cabinet member for housing, Cllr Sarah Doyle, said: “This taskforce is about tackling criminal rogue landlords who do not care about their tenants, nor our city.
“They are exploiting tenants for their own financial gain, taking advantage of extremely vulnerable people who are afraid to speak out because they are terrified of the consequences.
“Due to the nature of the issues, we are dealing with, drawing up evidence is extremely time consuming and complicated, which is why we have secured funding for a dedicated team to work specifically on this.
“This is a key part of our commitment to improving our neighbourhoods and making them better areas places to live for our residents.
“We all want the best for the city, and by working closely with partner organisations we can and will make a real difference to vulnerable people and help drive rogue landlords out of Liverpool.”
