A landlord must pay almost £1,000 after leaving his tenant without heating last winter.
Vivender Nath Blaggan, 47, of Stockton, allegedly left a rental property in the town with a faulty boiler for three months during the coldest part of the year.
The Labour Party has accused the Liberal Democrats of ‘unbelievable hypocrisy’ over its change in stance on the bedroom tax.
The deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said that the Lib Dems no longer support the policy in its current form and now want an exemption for disabled people and for housing benefit to only be cut if households refuse an offer to move.
Government officials are piloting ways to force benefit claimants to undergo mental health treatment or risk losing their benefits, reports suggest.
A series of pilots combining help to work initiatives and mental health treatments, led jointly by the Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), are due to be expanded within weeks
Another local authority has set out its proposals to introduce selective landlord licensing, with hefty £20,000 fines for those who do not fall into line.
Doncaster council is now consulting on the proposals for licensing in the Hexthorpe area because of alleged tenancy management and anti-social behaviour problems.
An agent who claimed nearly £4,900 in housing benefit despite renting out a house she co-owned has been given a 12 month community order and ordered to pay a total of £3,258 in costs and a victim surcharge.
Toni Wenlock from Rugby denies dishonestly making a statement to Rugby council in order to claim £4,830 in housing benefit; she also denies failing to tell the council of a change in her circumstances.
Discretionary housing help held back to stop bedroom tax ‘buy out’
Councils asking for additional cash to support tenants hit by welfare reform had their funding capped because the government believed they would buy their way out of the bedroom tax.
A ban on letting agent fees in England would have no negative impact on the private rented sector, a study of the Scottish market has revealed.
Commissioned by housing charity Shelter, the report found that the lettings market in Scotland has grown since fees were banned in 2012, with 54% of agency managers saying that the ban had been positive for the sector.
Boris Johnson has launched a rental standard for private sector landlords in London, in a bid to ensure tenants can rent confidently and help landlords understand the law.
The London Rental Standard badge will be awarded to all landlords and letting agents who meet a set of core commitments - including transparent fees, better property conditions, protected deposits and fast response times for repairs.
The government’s controversial bedroom tax has failed to ease under-occupancy in the social housing sector, its main aim, a report has revealed.
The 'Here and There: One year of the Bedroom Tax' report, composed by six housing associations, is the first to analyse a complete year’s data on the impact the under-occupancy policy has had on tenants.
Ministers’ attempts to slash fraud and error in the benefits system could be undermined because of uncertainty over how the housing element of universal credit will work, MPs have warned.
The work and pensions select committee said in a report today it was unclear how officials would be able to cross-check universal credit claims against other information to prevent benefit fraud and error.