Issue - meetings

[Report of the Director for Environment and Neighbourhoods. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal.]

The report will be seeking approval to undertake public consultation in respects to a proposed property licensing scheme for privately rented homes within a designated area of the borough.

Clerk’s note – The Leader re – joined the meeting and chaired the reminder of the  agenda items.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal introduced the report which outlined the proposed landlord licensing scheme, containing the regulatory framework to support the many good landlords in Haringey, whilst also providing the powers for officers to tackle the rogue landlords who do not comply. The scheme will also enable the Council to know who owns and manages these properties through the issuing of licenses to operate.

This report further sought a decision from Cabinet to carry out statutory public consultation exercise in relation to the designation of two areas within the borough, as set out in paragraphs 1.6 and 1.7 of the attached report which will be subject to Selective Property Licensing.

In response to questions from Councillor Connor, the following was noted:

• It was not currently possible to have a borough wide scheme with all wards included. The external advice provided, in the early stages of progressing this policy, was that the government criteria for a borough wide scheme was unlikely to be met. In relation to deciding the wards areas which would include the license, it was noted that deprivation indices had been included in the proposed selective scheme proposal. There were also still identified existing tools within enforcement programme to deal with private properties located outside the scheme.

• If the consultation result indicated a need to extend the scheme then this could still be considered post consultation. The final decision maker on the scheme was the secretary of state as outlined in the report.

• With regards to the potential of the £600 fee being passed on from landlords to tenants, this was not considered to be a significant issue. If this situation were to occur, it was unlikely to be a much higher additional cost as the £600 fee was paid every 5 years .Also the availability of a license would be providing the tenant with the assurance of good accommodation which is well managed.

• The Housing Improvement Team had compiled significant data on the private rented sector, working with an experienced external company and would be able to use this information to contact landlords that may not have accessed a license.

RESOLVED

1. To authorise the Director for Environment and Neighbourhoods, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal, to finalise and commence (when appropriate – see 1.4) statutory consultation on a proposal to designate two areas within the borough for selective licensing as described at 6.4 and Appendices 1 & 2 together with:

·                     The proposed fees and charges in Appendix 5

·                     The proposed Standard Licensing Conditions in Appendix 4.

2. To note that following the consultation a further report will be presented to cabinet for final decision before making, a referral to Secretary of State for approval.

Reasons for decision

The private housing market is a growing sector which is reflected within Haringey. Recent local research has identified that the Private Rented Sector (PRS) in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 239