Minutes:
A presentation was given by Mr Dave Princep, Team Leader Private Sector Housing, Haringey Council, on the responsibilities of and support available to private landlords.
It was noted that the private rental market was expanding rapidly and at present represented one third of the total housing stock in London. Approximately 40% of the properties in the private rental sector in Haringey were built prior to 1919 and without modern amenities; this resulted in a large number of poorly executed conversions that were of a poor quality, which required further modernisation.
There was a limited amount of assistance available to private sector landlords from the Local Authority; however, where a property was vacant, assistance was available if tenants nominated by the Council were taken on. There were also grants and tax incentives available to make properties more energy efficient that private sector landlords were able to take advantage of.
It was noted that there had been a significant increase in the legislation around the private rental market since 2004. This largely related to health and safety issues and there were twenty-nine hazards against which property were assessed.
Mr Princep noted that Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) were an area of concern to many members of the public. It was suspected that there are a large number of unlicensed HMO’s in London. The Council had several measures in place to identify unlicensed HMO’s and its Enforcement Team investigated reports of these received from members of the public.
The Council recognised that rigorous enforcement action alone would not provide the improvements required in the private rental sector. To raise standards generally the Council ran an accredited landlords scheme whereby landlords had to demonstrate an understanding of the legislation and make a commitment to providing good quality accommodation.
As part of this there were plans to introduce information packs to landlords and tenants providing information on their rights and responsibilities.
Mr Princep then took questions from the floor.
In response to a question Mr Princep advised that the Council was investing in a programme of incentives to encourage people to move from social housing into the private rental sector. Assisting people into longer term forms of accommodation was recognised as being an important priority.
Mr Princep advised that the Council was proactive in its approach to identifying HMO’s; however, these were often difficult to identify. It was noted that the Council assisted tenants of unlicensed HMO’s find new accommodation when they were evicted and that there was no penalty imposed on tenants of these properties. Concern was raised that many of the people living in this type of accommodation were vulnerable and susceptible to exploitation by disreputable landlords.
In response to a query as to whether there was any data with respect to the number of houses brought under the ‘Right to Buy’ scheme, which were now in the private rental market, Mr Princep advised that he did not keep this information; however, it should be possible to obtain this information under the Freedom of Information Act.
In conclusion Mr Princep noted that although enforcement action had a role to play in reducing the level of non compliant properties in the private rental sector, the accreditation scheme for landlords should be seen as the key tool for raising standards in the sector.
The Chair thanked Mr Princep for his presentation.