Agenda item

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Heritage

The Board considered the report of the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Heritage setting out the outcomes of a review of licensing Block Buildings within the Council’s Selective Licensing Scheme and recommending a revised fee structure for the Scheme.  The Portfolio Holder highlighted the following information:

(a)  the Selective Licensing Scheme must break even over the five year period so the fees charged have been reviewed to ensure that all associated costs are being taken into account;

(b)  the differing fee structures take into account the differing associated costs, including costs of enforcement;

(c)  the proposed increase in licence fee for Individual Property Licences will apply from 1 April 2020 rather than January 2020 as originally intended, as an incentive for landlords who are still not yet registered with the Scheme to come forward and be able to pay the current lower fee.  As an additional incentive, if currently unregistered landlords come forward during this period to register they will not be fined.  From April 2020 landlords registering will have to pay the higher fee and enforcement action may be taken against those landlords that the Council has to chase up;

(d)  it is proposed to add additional conditions on Block Building licences granted within the Scheme to ensure that management arrangements are in place for matters such as fire safety.

RESOLVED to

(1)  adopt the Policy document as set out in appendix 1 to the report, which sets out the Council’s approach to the licensing of dwellings within the City under the Council’s Selective Licensing Scheme;

(2)  adopt the additional standard licence conditions as set out in appendix 2 to the report to apply to any Block Licences that the Council may, in its discretion, grant;

(3)  adopt the revised fee structure as set out in appendix 3 to the report in relation to all new licensing applications submitted under the Selective Licensing Scheme; and

(4)  apply the above resolutions from 1 December 2019 with the exception of the proposed licence fee increase for Individual Property Licences which will be applied from 1 April 2020.

Reasons for decision

Since implementation of the Selective Licensing Scheme, the Council continues to review its operating model and in light of learning and developed knowledge it is appropriate to include the ability for an applicant to apply for a Block Licence, where certain conditions are met, within the Council’s policy.  Discretion to grant Block Licences offers the ability, where relevant, to include additional licence conditions particular to the management of Block Buildings.

As a result of operating and processing licensing applications over the past year, the Council is able to be more accurate in its assessment of resource implications and therefore it was appropriate to review the overall fee structure for the Selective Licensing Scheme.  The Housing Act 2004 permits a local housing authority to require a licence application to be accompanied by a fee and, when fixing that fee, that fee may take into account all costs incurred by the authority in carrying out its functions, which permits the authority to operate the Scheme in a cost-neutral manner.

Other options considered

The option not to offer the ability to apply for Block Licences was rejected because the Council can now propose options to accommodate such applications and current records and future building development shows that there is a potential benefit in now offering this option.  There may be additional benefits arising from more efficient administration arrangements and the ability to include additional licence conditions, where appropriate, particular to the management of Block Buildings.

The option not to review the fee structure was rejected because after a year of operating the Scheme, the Council has been able to develop its cost estimations of time for the actions contained within the licensing process.  In addition, the availability of a Block Licence means that an associated proportionate fee for such a licence had to be calculated.  Given the Scheme is operated on a cost neutral basis through the payment of licence fees, the Council is under a duty to keep under review the financial model for the Scheme.

The Council has reviewed Block Building Licence fee structures offered by other local authorities, some of which have adopted a similar flexible fee structure which results in a total fee which is proportionate to the size of the building.  The Council does have the option of a flat fee structure for a Block Licence but this was rejected because it would seem unfair for a licence for a block of four self-contained flats to cost the same as a licence for a block of one hundred self-contained flats.  The Council needs to be mindful of the need to apply reasonable and proportionate fees for its licences.

It was also considered whether to apply a flexible fee structure to individual property licences where an applicant has more than one self-contained dwelling within a Block Building.  This option was rejected because the Council’s experience is that the wider management and enforcement costs it is permitted to reflect in the fee are similar per dwelling when viewed across the City.  Some of the efficiencies in offering a Block Licence are gained due to the fact that the entire building is under common control and management.  The Council also draws comparison with where an applicant may have a number of individually licensed properties across the City.  In these circumstances the fairest and simplest way to calculate the fee is to divide it amongst the thousands of property licence holders.  The current fee structure also provides for a discount for accredited landlords.  Where landlords have become accredited, including those with large or multiple property portfolios and those who own an entire block of dwellings do benefit from a reduction in the licence fee.