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Rogue landlords charter must be backed up, NRLA warns
Tuesday 9th January 2024
Chris Norris, policy director at the NRLA, supports the landlords charter in Manchester, but says it must help owners of hardest-to-maintain properties.
Landlords have welcomed a new 'rogue's charter' in Manchester, but warned that it must be backed up with support for struggling landlords.
The city's Mayor Andy Burnham launched his *'Good Landlord Charter'*last week, saying it would target "untouchable" landlords who refuse to maintain their properties properly.
Burnham said the health of tenants was "put at risk" by landlords who fail to spend money on the upkeep of their rentals.
He told BBC Radio Manchester the city region would "not accept this whole culture of landlords sometimes taking money through the benefits system, public money, and then not putting a penny of that back into their properties".
Chris Norris, policy director at NRLA (main picture), says: "The vast majority of private landlords across Greater Manchester provide decent housing and a good service to their tenants.
"We therefore welcome the consultation's commitment to ensuring those landlords meeting all their legal obligations are properly recognised."
He says the "laudable aims" of the charter must be backed up by policies make them a reality.
"That should include support for those landlords with the hardest to improve properties, improved enforcement to root out rogue and criminal landlords, and ensuring that content of the charter is consistent with forthcoming changes in the Renters (Reform) Bill."
A consultation on the Mayor's charter, which covers the PRS and social landlords, opened this week.