Agenda item

Purpose of Report

To review the Council’s scheme for the Mandatory Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupancy.

Decision

That the proposed City of Lincoln scheme for mandatory licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupancy be approved.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

New legislation would come into force on 1 October 2018 extending the criteria for the types of Houses in Multiple Occupancy that needed a licence and imposed minimum room sizes and new mandatory conditions to be applied to all licences. The adoption of amenity and space standards for the city clarified the Council’s expectations for the standard of shared housing in Lincoln, helping landlords to know what they need to provide and supporting officers to respond to the challenge.

It was estimated that the number of Houses in Multiple Occupation requiring a licence as a result of the new requirements would increase from 300 to 900 properties.

The revised Mandatory Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation scheme was set out in Appendix A of the report and incorporated the following key changes:

·         a number of definitions within the licence had changed, which were clarified in appendices attached to the scheme;

·         a new Houses in Multiple Occupation online portal was in the process of being configured which would enable applications for licences to be submitted electronically. The scheme had therefore been amended to reflect this;

·         the licence fee had been updated to reflect changes to the Trusted Landlord Scheme;

·         in terms of renewals, legislation prescribed and restricted what documents the Council could require applicants to submit for an application to be valid. The revised scheme specified these requirements;

·         the revised scheme defined ‘appropriate people’ to hold a licence, in that they needed to prove that they had the necessary financial resources and had authority to act in respect of any property associated with the application;

·         a number of amendments to Appendix 10 in relation to satisfactory management arrangements. This outlined what the Council expected of landlords, with high-profile prosecutions having already being executed regarding landlords, ensuring that the Council continued to be robust through its processes and ensuring that they were complied with. Evidence could also be collated electronically as part of the online portal to assist with this;

·         adopted standards had been incorporated into the scheme to reflect new minimum requirements, but this also included guidance from a discretionary perspective in addition to those that were mandatory. Lincoln had a large number of Houses in Multiple Occupancy so it was important to push standards, with these revisions set out in Appendices 11 and 12 relevant to all Houses in Multiple Occupancy in the city, which were consistent with neighbouring areas;

·         further clarity was provided in relation to fire safety and fire doors in particular;

·         further clarity was provided in respect of conditions associated with smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms;

·         further clarity was provided regarding the requirement of landlords to ensure compliance with the Council’s waste disposal scheme, particularly in relation to bins being left on streets after they had been emptied which was consistently the subject of a number of complaints;

·         in terms of inspections, the same procedure under the Trusted Landlord Scheme would be followed. Where a landlord had already been accredited they would be passported without the need for an initial inspection, although they would still be inspected during the length of the licence. The system used to process applications had a risk assessment element associated with it which would indicate where inspections were required dependent on what was included as part of an application. Taking into account the estimated 900 properties that needed to be inspected upon being granted licences, this would assist in prioritising those initial inspections;

·         the inclusion of provision in Appendix 16 of the scheme to limit the length of a licence between one and three years for those landlords where problems had been experienced previously.

The proposed new scheme not only implemented the legislative changes but also made best use of the Council’s discretionary powers to set good standards of amenities and room sizes and use licence conditions to uphold good property management practices. This reflected the Council’s Vision 2020 priorities to improve the standard of private sector housing in the city and tackle rogue landlords.

This report had been considered by the Council’s Policy Scrutiny Committee where a question was raised as to the PAT testing of portable electronic appliances, which was not included as part of this proposal. Officers had investigated this matter and the PAT testing would only be undertaken on devices that the landlord themselves provided for tenants, whereas in reality the majority of portable appliances used would be those that the tenant provided for themselves. Therefore, regular testing of the mains fixed wiring and the RCD device in each property was more important. In view of this it was agreed that PAT testing of portable electrical appliances would not be a necessary condition as part of granting a licence.

The original proposal presented to the Policy Scrutiny Committee included reference to variation fees, but it was agreed that this element of the licensing scheme had been removed so that no variation fees applied.

Councillor Neil Murray welcomed the improvement of standards in respect of Houses of Multiple Occupation, particularly in view of the large number of people in the city who lived in them.

It was agreed that typographical errors in some of the appendices would be amended prior to publication of the final licensing scheme.