Agenda item

Report of Selective Licensing Manager

Further to a request at a previous meeting, David Hobbs, Selective Licensing Manager, updated the Committee on the Selective Licensing scheme in the city, the main points of which were:

·  the scheme runs for 5 years, starting in August 2018 and ending in July 2023, is one of the largest of its kind in the country, and was introduced as part of a vision of ‘Quality housing for all’;

·  it is run by a team of 75 staff, covering 12 different roles;

·  so far there has been over 6,000 applications in this Committee’s wards, with an expectation over the 5 years of in excess of 24,000 application being made across the city as a whole;

·  across the city up to February 2020, there has been 660 properties inspected, with 202 ‘interventions’ (warnings / suggested improvements etc), and 41 prosecutions / civil penalties;

·  to engage with landlords, 30 events were organised at libraries and community centres, including for those with English as an additional language, and these were attended by 400 landlords and agents;

·  5 larger events (including an upcoming one in May 2020) were each attended by over 100 landlords and agents;

·  since August 2018, the council has issued 19 civil penalties and 22 prosecutions to those not complying with their legal obligations under their licence, or not applying for a licence;

·  officer visits to properties have uncovered issues such as disrepair and non-working, or not even installed, fire alarms;

·  Council Tax data is used to contact ‘responsible persons’ at their ‘away address’, and currently this totals around 10,000 properties;

·  due to the scheme, the council has seen a significant increase in the number of Energy Performance Certificates issued in the private rented sector, and the proportion of private rented homes with an energy rating below ‘D’ has reduced from 25.9% in 2018 to 15.6% in 2019;

·  following the Grenfell disaster, and the increased scrutiny on ‘blocks’, the council is working with the Fire Service to audit / inspect the blocks in the city to ensure safety;

·  going forward, the Selective Team have created a 12-month plan and this includes:

o  moving towards compliance by becoming area based, neighbourhood focussed, working with locality partners and engaging with Neighbourhood Action Teams;

o  using a business analyst to become data-led using evidence;

o  developing further the council’s ‘MyProperty’ webpages, such as including mapping applications / licenced property identification;

o  continuing enforcement and awareness-raising;

o  creating a Landlord and Managing Agent Liaison Group.

In response to questions, David also stated that:

·  since introduction of the scheme, a number of properties that would have needed a licence have been sold;

·  any landlord discriminating in any way, such as asking for benefit log-in details etc, would have their licence revoked;

·  landlords living abroad usually have an agent, so that is who the team deal with;

·  Selective Licenses only apply to the building, so issues such as parking are not covered by them, although any waste issues can be reported to Community Protection, who would deal with that in the same way as they would with any property.

The Committee thanked David for his attendance and noted his informative update.