Liverpool City Council is launching a new initiative aimed at going after rogue landlords involved in criminal activity who exploit vulnerable tenants. With the help of the Department for Levelling Up, the council has secured £2 million pounds to launch a new way of working, which involves collaborative working with partners and organisations across the City Region. The Private Sector Housing Intelligence and Enforcement Task Force has been established to deal with landlords who work with those involved in gangmasters, sex work and drug dealing.
The aim of this new task force is to disrupt landlords who commit criminal activities and exploit their tenants. Often, tenants who fall victim to these crimes are afraid to report for fear of reprisals, which makes evidence gathering a complicated and time-consuming process. To address this, the Council has recruited a dedicated team, giving the local authority additional resources to tackle complex cases.
The taskforce’s strategy is to adopt an enforcement approach, gathering intelligence and carrying out targeted enforcement to drive out bad landlords from the market. Working with neighboring authorities will be necessary, as the landlords often own properties across more than one area. Partners working closely with the council will include Trading Standards, Children’s Services and Merseyside Police to join up and share information, and take further action as appropriate.
This task force is a key part of Liverpool City Council’s commitment to improving its neighborhoods and making them better places to live for residents. Through working with partner organizations, the council hopes to make a real difference in addressing the issue and drive rogue landlords out of Liverpool. The taskforce is due to launch on Friday 1 December, at a summit held in the Cunard Building, where Liverpool City Council and its partners will work on developing the initiative further
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