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FOREIGN landlords from Hong Kong to the Caribbean are buying up cheap North properties and leaving them to rot as crime sets in, the Sunday Sun can reveal.

Across the region councils fighting anti-social behaviour on tough estates are saying they are having to deal with the fall out of rogue landlords living carefree thousands of miles away.

Properties bought up cheap are either left uncared for or rented out to some of the North’s most troubled families. But when councils try to force action many simply don’t care.

Overseas investment companies from the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Hong Kong, as well as smaller firms in the Caribbean or South Africa have all been spotted buying up houses and flats.

In some cases the vacant property is left vandalised and unsecured as owners wait for tenants. In one North town the council had to try to force action after an outbreak of rats at rundown properties.

The rise has forced one MP to call for more to be done to tackle rogue private landlords, with councils saying they can at present only act in extreme cases.

Sunderland MP Bridget Phillipson sits on the influential Home Affairs select committee looking into proposed new anti-social behaviour measures.

The Labour MP said it was clear some landlords were not good enough. “To give an example, in my area when we had difficulties with one particular area and with some private landlords the council had to make great efforts to track down where the landlords actually lived.

“It transpired that one landlord lived in Hong Kong, had bought very cheap properties, had put in tenants who were not behaving themselves and were causing real difficulties for the community.

“Even finding out who the landlords were and then bringing about some action was a very protracted process for the council.”

She added: “I’ve seen too many cases where private landlords look the other way and are reluctant to act when their tenants cause anti-social behaviour.

“That’s why I’ve called for the Government to introduce a national register of landlords to help the police and local councils take action and improve standards.

“The Government is proposing that social tenants should be held responsible for the actions of visitors to their home. I think that should extend to private tenants too.”

Ms Phillipson was speaking after council intervention in Hetton le Hole. There families living on one street were facing a losing battle with neighbours from hell.

Properties were also then standing idle, with only vandals and rats wanting to stay.

Tempting in those landlords is the low property values facing many parts of the North. Last year the region had what was at the time one of the lowest UK properties for sale when a two-bed terrace house in Ferryhill, Durham, went on the market at just £501.

The same situation causing problems in Sunderland has faced council housing bosses in Newcastle. There the council has tried forcing through property purchases to take near derelict flats off uninterested landlords.

A Newcastle councillor told the Sunday Sun there are regular horror stories of dodgy landlords from as far away as the Caribbean to South Africa failing to take an interest in their properties.

Michael Burke, the Newcastle councillor responsible for housing , said: “The vast majority of landlords are good and work with us but there are a few who do not want to play their part. We find they can be from outside the North East ort as far away as the Caribbean or South Africa and what we need is the ability to force a register of landlords so we have all this information available if there is a problem.”

At present council powers only extend to land they own, unless they can force through a purchase of a property with an expensive legal battle.