With rising rents, insecure tenancies and dodgy landlords, renting a home privately has never been more difficult.

While the Tory Government won’t let the Mayor of London bring in controls on rents, Islington’s Labour-run Council is doing all it can to help protect renters.

Last week, the Labour-run Islington Council’s Executive meeting approved a new scheme where the landlords must register for a license and ensure their tenants have good quality housing or they will face prosecution.

Finsbury Park, Tollington and Hillrise wards have particular issues with poor living conditions, and as a result landlords in this area must sign up and ensure that their homes are up to standard. This will affect over 5000 homes in the three wards.

The Council is committed to doing everything it can to ensure than that local people living in Islington’s rented properties – which are a third of all properties in the borough – are protected and have a safe place to call home. Around 3 in 4 renters who responded to the consultation on the plans were supportive.

Landlords who fail to meet licence conditions could get a criminal conviction and an unlimited fine, or be issued with a financial penalty of up to £30,000 for each condition breached.

This is done at a time when rents are sky rocketing, and the Conservatives in Government in Westminster are refusing to do anything to protect residents from rogue landlords.

Councillor Una O’Halloran, Executive Member for Homes and Communities, said: “Private renters are being let down by the government, so we are stepping in to ensure that everyone in Islington has a safe, decent and genuinely affordable place to call home.

“Our message to landlords is simple: protect tenants or face action.”

The new scheme will come into force in January next year.

While this is a good start, the Council wants to extend the scheme to cover the whole borough but can’t without Government permission, so we need your help. Sign our petition and call on the Tory Government to allow Islington Council to protect renters across the borough.