Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has called for a ‘three strikes’ strategy to target rogue landlords, with councils given stronger powers to take over rental properties.

The potential Labour leader contender wants to persuade the government to go further with legislation around the PRS. Speaking on the Social Housing Podcast, he said: “I personally would like to see a three warnings and you’re out kind of a position. So, if you will not invest in your property, if you won’t bring it up to a minimum decent standard and you are given a deadline to do that then I think we should have simple powers of compulsory purchase.”

Burnham explained that this process is currently expensive for councils. “I think we need a much easier ability to intervene in the PRS and deal with some of those places where there is a concentration of poor housing.”

Success

Burnham pointed to the success of Greater Manchester’s Good Landlord Charter, which aims to promote higher management standards and more professional landlord practices, and – in an indication of what might change under his leadership – how he hopes to stretch its reach.

“We really hope in time it will become a really recognised kite mark…a badge of pride for the ones who are doing the right thing. The ones who won’t join, it identifies them more clearly and their properties and I don’t believe they should have the freedom anymore to just keep renting out homes that are damaging to people’s health. We wouldn’t let someone sell food that was damaging to somebody’s health. So why do we allow the renting of a home that is damaging to people’s physical and their mental health?”

He added that a “housing first” approach was needed in this country. “Since the 80s it’s a commodity to be bought and sold and some people fare better than others – that’s a big part of the problem. If you see housing like that, you end up with a housing crisis.”

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