More than 50 councils across the country will share nearly £2.4m of extra government funding to crack down on rogue landlords.

Among the councils to benefit from the funding are:

Walsall – to improve cross-agency enforcement work, including the innovative use of drones and thermal mapping to identify problem properties;

Lancaster – to create a training programme for existing enforcement staff across the Lancashire region;

Greater London Authority and Greater Manchester Combined Authority – allocated over £330,000 between them to carry out coordinated work to tackle rogue landlords who operate across multiple local authorities in their regions

Housing Minister Heather Wheeler MP says: “This extra funding will further boost councils’ ability to root out rogue landlords and ensure that poor-quality homes in the area are improved, making the housing market fairer for everyone.”

Councils that receive funding will be encouraged to share best practice and examples of innovative approaches, to help improve enforcement in other areas.