THE Government is planning to crack down on landlords who allow tenants to cause mayhem.

A growing number of private tenants, often evicted from council houses, are bringing misery to once-respectable streets.

Drug dealing, violence and "neighbour from hell" antics are driving decent families from their homes.

Some landlords are cashing in on low property prices and buying up cheap houses, which they let out to tenants on housing benefit, without keeping their behaviour in check.

Housing Minister Nick Raynsford visited Sunderland yesterday to see some of the problems in areas of the city.

He said: "We are looking at a licensing scheme in areas of low demand so some of the abuses of some private landlords can be stopped.

"We need to have joined-up policies. The police need to be informed of people making other people's lives a misery - in some cases it is related to drug abuse - and community groups should get involved.

"We have produced a Green Paper and we have had a lot of positive responses. We are ana-lysing those and we hope to make a statement on our plans in the very near future."

Sunderland South MP Chris Mullin, who invited Mr Raynsford to the city, said: "There are landlords who are responsible, but others just want the money. The main objective has got to be to make people behave."