Meeting documents

The Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Mrs Julia Langley, Brian Daly, Housing Services Manager and Amy Starsmore, Private Sector Housing Team Leader.  He noted that this would be the last report to the Commission on the licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), the team had undertaken a vast amount of work, and thanked the Cabinet Member and officers for their attendance. 

Councillor Mrs Langley noted that HMOs were a valuable source of housing and failing to manage these properties was an offence with possible fines or convictions.  She advised that if anyone was concerned about any suspected HMOs in their areas they were to contact the housing team. 

Amy informed the Commission that the Government legislation regarding HMOs changed on 1 October 2018 and she provided a number of statistics since this date as follows:

·         163 applications had been received for HMOs of 5 or more persons.

·         94 licenses had been issued.

·         13 withdrawn.

·         1 refused.

·         9 licenses pending.

·         117 had been processed.

·         47 applications were outstanding these were due to legal action, incomplete applications, Fit and Proper Person issues and recent applications.

·         1145 persons in licensed, compliant and checked properties.

·         200 persons in smaller inspected HMOs.

·         1345 persons in total persons protected in HMOs.

It was reported that HMO enforcement had been proactive in targeted areas.  Operation Reveal was undertaken in two stages: stage one in Oakridge and Abbey wards, stage two in Disraeli and Terriers/Amersham Hill wards.  Properties visited during the operation totalled 255 with 190 being assessed.  Follow up visits had been undertaken with all properties assessed in full.  Stage three of the operation was currently being planned.  In total 471 inspections had been undertaken since 1 October 2018.

There had been 153 Statutory Notices and four Civil Penalties issued with £7500 being collected.  Two prosecutions had been lodged at court, three with legal services, four potential legal cases, and nine cases had been investigated but no action taken.

Regarding stage three of Operation Reveal it was reported that this would require a different approach as the properties would be more difficult to investigate.  Work would be undertaken with other agencies such as Children’s Social Care and Adult Social Care, BCC and the Police.  Members were asked to inform the team if they were aware of any suspected HMOs in their areas.

Members raised a number of issues and received clarification on queries as follows:

·         The Improvement and Review Commission task and finish group in 2014 had investigated HMOs and provided a number of recommendations to Cabinet. 

·         It was noted that the objective of HMO licensing was to ensure the safeguarding of tenants and to make sure they were protected.

·         Compliance was expected and warnings were given to landlords to rectify problems.  Prosecution was an enforcement tool and was only undertaken if landlords ignored warnings and the council had no other option.

·         The benefit for not applying for a HMO was expected to be financial as compliance usually incurred costs such as the requirement for fire safety standards.

·         On the 1 October 2018 47 applications for a licence had been received in advance with 163 across the year.

·         Regarding licensing HMOs across the whole district it was noted that this would be very difficult due to the level of work required.  It was expected that the work would continue with the new Unitary Council and expand if possible, however district wide would be unrealistic at this stage.  The new Council could consider intelligence information to look at where the biggest cluster areas of HMOs were in the County by using council tax information etc. 

·         It was noted that only one street in each of the four wards had been investigated not the whole areas.

·         The landlord and the letting agent could both be liable for properties.  Amy confirmed that landlords and letting agents had been informed of their responsibilities regarding HMOs and landlords had been encouraged to find out who lived in their properties.

·         Emergency Prohibition Orders could be used to close down properties urgently if required.

·         Once a HMO had been licenced a certificate was issued that needed to be displayed in the property, also the property would be available to view on a public register that prospective tenants could access if required.

·         It was suggested that licensing could be applied to all private rented accommodation in the county but it was noted this would not be currently possible due to the large scale, work involved and lack of resources.

·         Reporting regarding bad living conditions were usually made by members of the public, other landlords and tenants were not likely to report problems as they were afraid of the consequences.

·         Letting agents were fully informed and the council held a Landlord’s Forum to support and provide communication.

·         The new Unitary Council could open up new areas of work.

·         All agencies were made aware and were involved if required.  One family placed by others in accommodation deemed as unsafe had been moved immediately by that service once advised of the conditions, and action was taken to require the property to be improved.

·         Safety of the team was paramount and stage one and two of Operation Reveal had used intelligence based evidence to investigate properties.  Stage three would involve the police as it was expected that these HMOs would be more problematic. 

The Chairman on behalf of the Commission thanked the Cabinet Member, Brian, Amy and their team for all their hard work and congratulated them on the achievements of the past year.