Agenda item

Report attached.

The Chair welcomed Cllr Peray Ahmet, Cabinet Member for the Environment, and Alison Crowe, Programme Manager, to the meeting and Cllr Ahmet introduced the report.

The Panel was informed the report provided information on the progress that had been made to date in respect of extending the Additional Licensing scheme and introducing a Selective Licensing scheme for single dwelling houses.      

In response to questions, the Panel was advised that in order to bring forward either an additional or selective licensing scheme the Council needed to satisfy legislative criteria. It was noted that this was particularly important when presenting a case for selective licensing, as set out in section 6.2 of the report.   

The Panel was asked to note that both schemes needed to be supported by a robust evidence base and that a full public consultation exercise was required before a scheme could be introduced.

In response to questions, Ms Crowe explained various data sets (from within the Council and the Metropolitan Police) had been brought together and analysed, as set out in section 6.3 of the report.

In terms of consultation, the following points were noted:

-       Public consultation would take place between November 2017 – February 2018.

-       The consultation would go beyond borough boundaries.

-       Information would be provided to explain why the Council was proposing a licensing scheme and why alternative remedies were insufficient.

-       Information would be provided to demonstrate how the schemes would tackle specific problems and how they would relate to other measures.

In response to questions, Ms Crowe explained the consultation was likely to attract a negative response from landlords and the Council needed to look at what support could be provided to support landlords.

The Panel was informed that work was ongoing to analyse data and to meet requirements set out by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). It was noted that officers had met with colleagues from DCLG to discuss initial proposals for licensing across Haringey and to seek further guidance on how best to present the evidence base. It was noted that feedback from the DCLG had included:

-       The need for selective licensing to address problems in individual streets/areas.

-       Ward based schemed offered a blanket approach and it was unlikely problems relating to the private sector dwellings existed across the ward.

-       Clarity was needed in terms of the problems that were trying to be addressed and the desired outcomes.   

From the analysis to date, the following points were noted:  

-       There were  pockets of problematic single family private sector dwellings in the borough.

-       HMOs were problematic and required blanket regulation.

-       Using various data sets, officers had estimated an increase in the private sector stock (overall) to 35,000. It was noted HMOs could be as high as 50% of this total.  

-       Previous national studies, and findings from Haringey, highlighted many HMOs: Operated under the radar, unregulated; Increased the risk of fire; Were owned by absent or rogue landlords; Were unsafe and often occupied by vulnerable tenants.      

-       An additional licensing scheme could cover up to 50% of the borough’s private sector stock.

-       Evidence suggested that a selective licensing scheme was needed in some areas, as outlined in section 6.3 of the report.

In conclusion, the Panel was informed that a borough wide scheme would go some way to improving the lives of residents and would increase the Council’s powers to act. In addition, the Panel was informed that it was likely officers would recommend a selective licensing scheme that would fall within the 20% threshold. It was noted that desired outcomes from the selective licensing scheme would include: improved housing conditions and ASB, crime and environmental crime associated with private sector dwellings. The Panel was informed that a report on these issues would be presented to Cabinet in November 2017.       

AGREED: That the update on property licensing be noted.