BRADFORD Council has been given a cash boost from the Government in its ongoing campaign to rid the city of slum landlords.

The authority has been granted £45,000 by the Department of Communities of Local Government (DCLG) to continue its crackdown on the worst-affected properties, mainly flats above shops and businesses such as takeaways.

As reported in the Telegraph & Argus last month, Bradford was one of 65 local authorities invited to apply for a share of the DCLG funding, which Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said was to be used to "root out cowboys and rogue operators".

A Bradford Council spokesman said the money would be used to fund a "two-pronged approach", which included visiting flats above commercial properties on "key arterial routes" into Bradford, and returning to addresses where landlords had been served with improvement notices which had not been complied with, often when tenants had moved out before work was completed.

The extra funding will enable environmental health officers to extend their visits to include evenings and weekends, in areas such as Leeds Road, Manchester Road, and Great Horton Road.

Liam Jowett, housing standards manager for Bradford Council, said: "We'll need the co-operation of tenants and business owners to allow access to their flats. Where possible, we will write to those concerned before we visit.

"We look forward to working with co-operative flat owners in order to advise them the best way of carrying out safety improvements.

"Those landlords who do not co-operate will, however, face formal action which could lead to a prosecution and hefty fine."

During 2014/15, the Council received 1,262 complaints from tenants about rented properties, resulting in more than 650 enforcement notices being served.

Its housing standards team has pursued 54 successful prosecutions against landlords for housing-related offences since 2011 of which nine took place in 2014/15.

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There were just under 600 complaints in the first two quarters of 2015/16, with many relating to potentially fatal breaches in fire safety.

In October last year, the Council conducted a pilot study in which environmental health officers made snap inspections of 36 flats in 28 premises across the city, all of which were found to contain safety hazards, including fire safety issues and a lack of "basic amenities for people."

When the funding bid was announced last month, Councillor Val Slater, Bradford Council's portfolio holder for housing, said the authority "took poor standards in housing seriously", and would tackle them where resources allowed.

After the £45,000 was confirmed yesterday, she said: "We're delighted our bid was successful to support the work we're carrying out to make homes in Bradford safer and healthier."