House in south for criminals (8)
I believe the answer is:
villains
'criminals' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'house in south' is the wordplay.
'house' becomes 'villa' (villa is a kind of house).
'south' becomes 's' (abbreviation).
'villa'+'in'+'s'='VILLAINS'
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for villains that I've seen before include "Baddies" , "Wicked people" , "Scoundrels, miscreants" .)