Other councils should not even think about introducing blanket licensing of private rental properties until it is clear how the controversial Newham scheme is faring.
The call has come from London letting agent Robert Nichols, director of Edmund Cude, which manages properties in Newham.
MPs have approved the controversial Welfare Benefits Uprating Bill following a fiery debate in the House of Commons.
The bill, which will cap rises in a number of benefits at 1 per cent, passed by 328 votes to 262.
MPs will vote today on the Government's plans to place a 1% cap on working-age benefit rises - but have been warned that the changes are "likely to lead to increased homelessness".
The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has argued that such a cap would be "unsustainable" and will lead to many tenants facing eviction as they find themselves unable to pay their rents.
A London council is considering proposals that could lead to its obese residents having their benefits cut if they don't take exercise.
A new report by think tank the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) recommends cutting welfare pay-outs for the obese if they refuse to exercise.
A plan to make people financially responsible, by paying their housing benefit directly into their banks rather than to their landlords, risks backfiring, according to social policy experts.
The National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations in England, is warning that up to a million people in social housing will be at risk of falling into debt when the "universal credit" is rolled out next year.
Social landlords taking part in trials where tenants are paid their benefits direct are reporting arrears of around double the norm.
Their experiences will be of interest to private landlords, who have long protested that tenants receiving Local Housing Allowance do not always pass the rent money on but spend it on other things.
The household benefits cap will be trialled in four London boroughs before being rolled out nationally over the summer.
The Department for Work and Pensions announced yesterday that the cap will apply in just four London council areas from April, rather than applying to all households across the country immediately as expected.
A Conservative MP has called for the introduction of 'Welfare Cash Cards' on which benefits would be paid, enabling claimants to make only priority purchases such as food, clothing, energy, travel and housing costs.
Alec Shelbrooke, Conservative MP for Elmet and Rothwell, said the cards - which would prevent the purchasing of luxury items like cigarettes, alcohol, sky television and gambling - would support the introduction of Universal Credit.
Landlords testing direct payment of benefit failed to collect 8 per cent of rent on average in the first four months of the six pilot projects.
Data released today by the Department for Work and Pensions showed 6,220 tenants across Great Britain were paid directly in the first four months of the projects. Of these, 92 per cent of rent was collected on average overall, meaning arrears were around double the normal figure. A total of 316 tenants have been switched back to payment of benefit to the landlord.
Now the facts are before us, politicians can no longer hide behind myth and conjecture. If any doubt remained over whether the era of Britain as a nation of homeowners is over, this week's census results provided final confirmation.
For the first time in decades home ownership is in decline, falling from 69% to 64% of all households. We can expect it to have fallen further by the next census in 2021 (if the fact-finding exercise survives government spending cuts) as Generation Rent reaches middle age.