Agenda item
ADDITIONAL LICENSING OF HOUSES IN MULTIPLE OCCUPATION
To receive a report by the Built Environment and Public
Protection Manager on the Additional Licensing for Houses in Multiple Occupation and to seek the
Partnerships Scrutiny Committee’s input prior to the public consultation
exercise (copy attached).
11:15am – 12:00pm
Minutes:
The Head of
Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services presented the report Additional
Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation alongside officers, Public
Protection Business Manager, Built Environment Manager and the Public
Protection Officer (Environmental Health).
officers had requested that Scrutiny considered a
proposal to renew the Council’s Additional Licensing of Houses in Multiple
Occupation Scheme, currently operating within Rhyl, and to also extend the
scheme to include relevant properties in Prestatyn,
Denbigh and Llangollen. The Committee was advised by the Lead Member that
both North Wales Police (NWP) and North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS)
were pleased with the effectiveness of the current scheme operating in areas
within Rhyl and were eager for the scheme to be renewed. In light of the
success of the current scheme the Council was keen to extend it to three other
towns in the county, Denbigh, Llangollen and Prestatyn
in order to ensure that houses in multiple occupation not covered by the
mandatory scheme would now be regulated more effectively. The purpose of the
scheme was to ensure that houses in multiple occupation were maintained to a
reasonable standard, and that they provided suitable and safe accommodation for
the people who lived there. Following consideration by Scrutiny, the next step
would be to take the Scheme to each of the relevant Member Area Groups (MAGs)
and to commence a 10 week public consultation on the Scheme prior to presenting
it to Cabinet for approval and adoption.
Officers outlined
the benefits of having an Additional Licensing Scheme for Houses of Multiple
Occupation (HMO) advising that the Council proactively inspected properties
covered by the mandatory and additional schemes to ensure compliance. It also
allowed the Council to work with private landlords to secure improvements,
which in turn helped reduce the number of voids in the county, increase the
number of housing units available in Denbighshire, as well as improve the
County’s performance against the number of overcrowded properties recorded in
the Wales Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD).
During the
Committee’s discussions the Lead Member and Officers:
·
advised
that anti-social behaviour in private sector HMO required stricter monitoring
and enforcement action taken where necessary;
·
confirmed that the Housing Enforcement Team
comprised of six full time equivalent (FTE) staff and were confident, based on
current available data, that this would be sufficient to manage the proposed
extended additional licensing scheme. The Team also benefited from income
received from fees which provided them with some flexibility to employ
additional staff if required;
·
advised that prosecuting non-compliant
landlords was a lengthy and complex process, hence the low number of
prosecutions undertaken in the ten years the Scheme had been operating in parts
of Rhyl. Dialogue, and if required enforcement or prohibition action, were far
more effective management tools as in order to secure their income from their
properties landlords would eventually work with the Council with a view to
complying with requirements;
·
explained
the complexities involved with the Planning, Building and Licensing Regulations
but emphasised that all three services worked closely together on matters of
concern;
·
advised that the Service relied heavily on
reactive information from tenants, the public and elected members regarding
potential incidents of non-compliance. It also worked closely with the
Council’s Homelessness Service and external agencies in relation to access to
housing and homelessness services;
·
confirmed
that the Service used Rent Smart Wales data to compare registrations and
licensing data with that held by the Council;
·
advised
that all complaints received in relation to housing enforcement contraventions
were actioned within five days; and
·
advised that the Additional Licensing Scheme
did not apply to Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) as they required to comply
to the same housing regulations as the Council’s housing stock, the Additional
Licensing Scheme applied to private sector landlords. However, if members
had concerns about any RSL properties or tenants they could forward them to the
Council’s Housing Enforcement Team and they would raise them with the RSLs as
they met them on a regular basis
Responding to
members’ concerns as to whether introducing the Additional Licensing Scheme to
specific towns in the county and not to all towns and villages may have a
detrimental effect by driving unscrupulous landlords to operate in areas not
covered by the scheme, officers advised that they would closely monitor the
situation. This could be done by working closely with Environmental Services
through monitoring waste and recycling data for an area in case they were
emptying multiple waste receptacles for single properties. Members also
registered their concerns on the perceived increase in the number planning
applications for conversion of single dwellings into multiple-occupancy
dwellings considered by the Council’s Planning Committee in recent months, be
they for converting into HMOs or stand-alone apartments.
The Committee
requested to be provided with a link to the ‘Rent Smart Wales’ website and
data, and to be provided with the register of RSL properties in Denbighshire.
At the conclusion
of the discussion the Committee:
Resolved: - subject to the above observations –
(i)
and the provision of an ‘Information Report’ on
the number of planning applications received by the Council during the last two
years seeking permission to convert single dwellings into Houses of Multiple
Occupation and/or into self-contained apartments , including the number of applications
granted and refused by officers and by the Planning Committee;
(ii)
having considered the contents of the report
and given particular consideration to the geographical area Covered by the
proposed Additional Licensing Scheme, the type of Houses in Multiple Occupation
to be covered by the additional scheme, the justification and evidence for
re-designating an Additional Licencing Scheme, the Conditions to be imposed as
part of the Scheme, and the fees to be applied to the Scheme, to support the
forthcoming consultation on extending the Additional Licensing Scheme;
(iii)
that as part of its consideration it had read,
understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 7);
and
(iv)
that following the conclusion of the public
consultation process the final draft Additional Licensing for Houses in
Multiple Occupation be presented to the Committee for further scrutiny prior to
its submission to Cabinet for approval
Supporting documents:
- Additional Licensing of HMOs Report 130220, item 6. PDF 241 KB
- Additional Licensing of HMOs Report 130220 - App 1, item 6. PDF 1 MB
- Additional Licensing of HMOs Report 130220 - App 2, item 6. PDF 360 KB
- Additional Licensing of HMOs Report 130220 - App 3, item 6. PDF 110 KB
- Additional Licensing of HMOs Report 130220 - App 4, item 6. PDF 207 KB
- Additional Licensing of HMOs Report 130220 - App 5, item 6. PDF 489 KB
- Additional Licensing of HMOs Report 130220 - App 6, item 6. PDF 358 KB
- Additional Licensing of HMOs Report 130220 - App 7, item 6. PDF 137 KB