Government plans to stop 'housing benefit going to rogue landlords'

Rogue landlords in England will face curbs on how much benefit they can receive if their properties are substandard, the government has announced as it unveiled £300m to build more affordable housing.

The funding comes from within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's current budget and will add 2,800 affordable homes over the next year, according to the government.

Councils will also receive £50m, made up of £20m new funding and £30m reallocated, to add 250 homes to keep families out of poor-quality temporary housing like Bed and Breakfasts, the government said.

Conservatives argued Labour's housebuilding plans "will do nothing to address the shortage of housing because immigration will just keep piling on the pressure".

In its announcement, the government stated it will "imminently set out plans to crack down on exploitative behaviour by rogue and criminal supported housing landlords".

It said a new licensing scheme, tougher standards, and "the ability to stop housing benefit going to rogue landlords" are part of plans which will be unveiled next week.

The extra money for housing feeds into Labour's manifesto pledge to build 1.5 million homes over the course of the Parliament.

But there have been warnings that a lack of skilled workers in the UK could stand in the way of these plans.

Asked whether she was worried about the target being met, Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said that she is "determined" to meet the challenge.

"We see 160,000 children in temporary accommodation and the cost of that on local authorities is significant as well as the impact on children's life chances," she said.

The £300m boost expands the UK's Affordable Homes Programme (AHP), the government's key fund for building affordable housing in England, due to end in March next year.

Launched in 2021 by the Conservatives, the scheme funds councils, developers, and housing groups to build or convert affordable homes - at least half of which must be rented at a discount to council tenants.

The money comes on top of £500m earmarked for affordable housing in October's Budget, and takes the total pot over the last five years to £12.3bn.

A replacement for the scheme will be revealed at the upcoming Spending Review this Spring, Labour said.

The housing charity Shelter said it was a "promising start" but "far more ambitious investment" was required.

A report from the charity last summer suggested that England needed at least 90,000 social rent homes built per year for 10 years to clear social housing waiting lists and house people who are homeless.

Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said the new money "will help maintain momentum in the delivery of much needed social and affordable housing".

The additional money is welcome, according to Fiona Fletcher-Smith, chief executive of L&Q, one of the UK's largest housing associations, but "it won't touch the sides".

Social rent is set by a formula tied to local income, historically around 50% of the market rate.

The Local Government Association (LGA) also welcomed the funding and urged the government to ensure councils had proper resources to meet housing need at the spending review later this year.

In December, David Thomas, the head of Barratt Redrow, the largest housebuilding firm in the UK, warned Sir Keir's government would have to "revolutionise the market, revolutionise planning, revolutionise methods of production" to hit its goal.

"They're challenging targets, I think we have to recognise that this is a national crisis," Mr Thomas said.