Issue - meetings

RESOLVED: That:

a)    The proposals made in Section 2 of the officer report be noted.

b)    An update report to be presented in 2015-16.

c)    Generation Rent be asked for more information on their work with other local authorities in helping tenants claim rent back under RROs.

d)    d) The Committee welcomed the approach of the Council in respect of discretionary licensing on flats over shops. The Committee would support a trial of discretionary licensing on flats over shops and would like an update on this specific proposal in 2015-16.

3.1      Dayna Edwin, representing Generation Rent addressed the meeting. The key points to note were:

• She had worked with Generation Rent on a House of Commons Bill on Private Sector Regulations.
• Generation Rent would like to see borough-wide licensing of all landlords or at the very least blanket landlord licensing in every ward where there is a significant private rented sector.
• If the Council budgeted exactly the same sum for enforcement as it currently does, presuming the cost of licensing is covered by the licence fee, then there are still benefits to the Council, for example:
  • Off-setting some of the overhead costs of the housing enforcement team to the license fee account
  • Providing the enforcement team at its current scale with far better intelligence in terms of landlords of concern. When you prosecute a licensed landlord you will have a list of all their other properties in the borough which should be prioritised for proactive inspection
  • The licence fees and conditions can be scaled to impact harder on non-compliant landlords.
• There is more likely to be uplift in Council Tax receipts if there is licensing of all landlords.
• Generation Rent would like to be signposted to residents in the borough where landlords have failed to protect their deposits to help them recover money through Rent Repayment Orders (RROs).
• Generation Rent rejects the idea that landlords would put up rents. Rents are high because there is little supply and lots of demand and that is how the market price emerges. For example, if market rents were based on costs then you would see £400-a-month family homes available where landlords had no mortgage to pay.
• It should cost less than the £1m a year in set-up costs estimated in the agenda report, but even if that were the case; if it provides a measure of protection to one quarter of this borough’s population would be worth it.
• Generation Rent requests that the Select Committee calls for a business case to be prepared so that borough-wide licensing can remain an option for the Mayor and Cabinet.

3.2       In response to questions from the Committee, Generation Rent made the following further points:

• It was a disappointment that the Private Member’s Bill that would have outlawed revenge evictions was unable to make it through the Parliamentary legislative process, and therefore now unlikely to become law by the end of this Parliament.
• Having a borough-wide licensing scheme would deter rogue landlords by ensuring they have to be registered and monitored with an enhanced enforcement team.
• Licensing can be a tool to help protect vulnerable tenants, including people who have English as a second language, and who are often in the worst private sector rented accommodation.

3.3       Debi Waite, Environmental Health Team Manager, Residential Services, LB Greenwich, addressed the meeting. The key points to note were:

• She has worked in the area of housing for over 20 years, and has experience of successful selective licensing in Gresham, Middlesbrough. She has also worked with a number of local  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3