Burnham unveils new powers for councils to buy up poor-quality homes and let to social housing tenants

He explained that the CPO powers already exist, but the cost and time of using them often makes councils reluctant to do so and he would look to work with the courts on a streamlined process. 

There will be opportunities for housing associations to take on those newly acquired properties, Mr Burham said, alongside an opportunity for private landlords to allow their homes to be managed through the GMCA’s ethical lettings agency. 

The agency is a scheme that would allow their homes to be managed by social rent providers, “a sort of halfway house between buying up completely”, said the mayor. 

During his speech, Mr Burnham told delegates that the new deal was needed as it was “a moral outrage” that in a country as wealthy as the UK, “a two-year-old-boy was killed in his home”.

He described the tragic death of Awaab Ishak “as an indictment of housing policy under successive governments”.

He added that it was hard to believe housing standards in England had not changed much “since George Orwell chronicled the grim reality of housing in the North 85 years ago”.

As part of the mayor’s plans for a new checking system, the enhanced powers and resources would see region work with the government to put an end to public money subsidising non-decent homes.

The powers will sit within the framework of the city region’s new devolution deal, including training the new enforcement officers needed.

The mayor of GMCA shared the new plan in a discussion with Guardian columnist and commentator Gaby Hinsliff, who described him as the “all round king of the North”.

Mr Burnham told delegates: “And to those who ask whether it is affordable? It is our failure to provide it that leads to the waste of billions of public money dealing with social crises that come from the lack of it. Good housing is true prevention.

“Personally, I believe we will only get the sea change on housing that we need when we make a good, safe, secure home a human right in UK law.

“That change would require action on many more levels, including much great focus on the state of the existing housing stock and the urgent need to build hundreds of thousands of homes for social rent.”

Until that many social homes are being built, Mr Burnham said he was using the powers he could to set a 15-year new mission for Greater Manchester: a healthy home for all by 2038.

He added: “In simple terms, that means a home that doesn’t damage your physical health through damp, mould and other physical hazards and doesn’t harm your mental health because you live in fear of eviction.

“To achieve this, we are proposing a complete rewiring of the system to put power in the hands of tenants, but, in doing so, make it work better for everyone – tenants, landlords and local communities.”