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Cllr Peter Box, LGA Housing spokesman responds to the Government's announcement of extra funding to tackle rogue landlords.

"Councils are at the forefront of tackling rogue landlords and the announcement of this funding will assist councils who have been increasingly affected by the growing problem, and will help towards bringing the system for prosecuting rogue landlords into the 21st century.

"The private rented sector is growing and, with limited resources and competing funding pressures, councils are working hard to ensure that rogue landlords are dealt with robustly and effectively. However, they are too often being hamstrung by an outdated system. It can take more than a year to prosecute a rogue operator and in many cases paltry fines are handed out to criminal landlords.

"Proposals in the Housing and Planning Bill for banning orders for the worst operators in the private rented sector will help councils tackle this issue, as will the flexibility to issue fines to private landlords as an alternative to prosecutions. We will be working with the Government to ensure measures in the Bill are properly resourced so councils can make full use of them.

"Our chronic housing crisis is making it easier for bad landlords to exploit tenants. Councils must be given a lead role in building new affordable rented homes so that people who can't afford to buy are not forced into the more expensive private rented sector."