Selective Licensing update

Private Housing Standards, July 2014

  1. Reminder
  • On 15 January 2014, Cabinet approved to designate area of around 350 private rented properties in Page Hall for Selective Licensing
  • Also approved was a Voluntary Registration Scheme of around 593 private rented properties in Page Hall/Firvale
  • Selective Licensing became ‘live’ as of 22 April 2014
  1. Progress on applications

Total number of designated properties / 342*
Properties that are exempt / 85*
Total Applications Required / 257* (342-85)
Total Applications Received / 246** - 96%
Applications outstanding / 11
Notices of improvement served / 42
Prosecution caseswith solicitor / 13

*This is an ever changingfigure as properties are bought/sold etc. These properties are now being checked through door knocking and seeking proof of ownership/residency

**This is thetotal number of applications including part apps and part payments. Missing information/payments are now being pursued as non compliant and are with our solicitor

  1. Update on Selective Licensing
  • The income projection to March 2015 was £206,625 (as per Cabinet Report of 15 January 2014)
  • The achieved income as of 25 July 2014 is £171,950 which is on track to meet the projected income levels
  • As detailed in the Cabinet report, the income is to fund the administration of the licensing programme over 5 years. It must not be used for other purposes such as waste collections.
  • Since April we have had 3 officers solely dedicated to inspections in Page Hall. 2 additional inspectors have been based there since June. 3 office based staff are checking and processing licence applications which is a rigorous process defined by legislation
  • Inspectors have carried out 154 inspections since April. This does not include doorstep visits which would bring the total up to around 300.
  • Staffing resources were first directed at the properties where no contact had been made/no applications received at all. There has been an extensive programme of door knocking and information recording
  • Officers have providedWitness statements which is needed for prosecutions
  • We have uncovered a significant number of issues through this; ranging from minor repairs issues, child safeguarding, overcrowding to serious lack of compliance with legal procedures not only in housing but other compliance issues
  • Some properties are exempt because they are empty/very close to selling, or if the tenant is a close family member to the owner. We have started a programme of door knocking to seek proof; birth certificates etc to make sure that people are not unlawfully claiming exemptions
  • There has been a definite improvement already, many landlords did not have gas certificates, tenancy agreements etcwhich would not have been uncovered had we not done Selective Licensing
  • There is heightened activity from builders and landlords contacting us wanting to bring their properties up to standard.
  • There are still challenging issues with fly tipping and rubbish so we continue to work with Veolia, police and other partners and departments.
  • The training course, to be delivered by our training partners; the Residential Landlords’ Association is almost ready. We require all landlords to book onto this unless they have already gained a qualification or attended an acceptable course
  • A ‘tenancy reference’service has been set up by our team to provide a session where a council Tenancy Relations Officer (TRO) explains the rights and responsibilities to tenants unable to provide references, with the landlord present. If the TRO is satisfied that the tenant understands the obligations they will sign as referee. They will not be guarantor for purposes such as rent.
  • A landlord information pack has been developed and is on the website. We will be printing some of these up too. They give all sorts of information and practical help with standard letters, tenancy agreements and ending tenancies
  • The money awarded to us from central government enabled us to recruit some extra enforcement officers. They have been in place since June and are being used for the serious enforcement cases
  1. Update on the Voluntary area
  • We are disappointed that there have only been 4 applications for the voluntary scheme
  • A voluntary scheme was suggested by landlords as an alternative to Selective Licensing so we were hopeful that landlords would show their support of it
  • Now that Selective Licensing processes are up and running, we will start work in the Voluntary area
  • We are also keeping a close eye on neighbouring areas such as Darnall, Tinsley, Wincobank and Grimesthorpeto assess whether they are experiencing similar issues in the private rented sector
  • The Cabinet Member is receiving updates on this to enable further decision making in the future as per the Cabinet Reports.

Michelle Slater, Service Manager - Private Housing Standards