A MAYORAL candidate says a licensing scheme to tackle rogue landlords should be in place across the area to raise standards in problem areas.

Jessie Joe Jacobs, Labour’s candidate to be the next Tees Valley Mayor, says she fears the financial and personal problems caused during the pandemic will create a new crisis of homelessness when landlords are able to claim unpaid rents.

She said: "We need to take action now to prevent this growing into another crisis.

“Housing will not be neglected under my watch, it will be given the attention it deserves.

“When housing situations worsen people are either left homeless or find themselves in the hands of dodgy landlords with substandard property.

"We heard stories of rental properties left for months with no heating or hot water, or boarded up with no natural light, that can’t be right. The impact is not only on the individuals either, it affects the wider community, dragging neighbourhoods down, creating no go areas, and making local residents feel unsafe.

“Local leadership working closely with housing providers, ethical investors and the appropriate agencies can begin to resolve this problem. We could introduce a landlord licensing scheme to ensure enforcement on those dodgy landlords."

Selective licensing can only be introduced in areas which have a problem with low housing demand or where there are significant and persistent problems of anti-social behaviour.

There are schemes in place in parts of Middlesbrough.

She said she would like to introduce a licensing scheme across a broader area in Tees Valley to stop problem landlords moving from areas which currently have schemes in place, to those that do not.

She said a licensing scheme would also raise cash to tackle problem landlords.

Selective licensing can only be introduced in areas which have a problem with low housing demand or where there are significant and persistent problems of anti-social behaviour.

Ms Jacobs said: “Part of the issue is rogue landlords. It’s not about the size of the problem, but how bad the individual problems are and what that does to the area.

“We have homes that are boarded up but people are still living in them. They have issues with no heating.

“Those landlords are not taking responsibility.”

“I want great places for people to live and grow up. If you’re going to have a great place to live, having a neighbourhood that looks and feels safe is part of that.”

She added: "We can can ensure people have good homes and neighbourhoods are improved if there is the political will and leadership. Sadly this has been lacking at a Tees Valley level and whilst the mayor spends £3 million on an airport lounge, parts of Teesside fall further into poverty and despair."