Having considered an officer report, and a presentation by the Cabinet
Member for Housing, Councillor Paul Bell, the Mayor and Cabinet agreed that:
(1) the data analysis detailed be noted concluding:
that approximately 26% of the residential properties in the borough are
private rented properties;
that the stock condition of the private rented sector is shown to be below
that of other sectors with the highest proportion of non-decent homes and
there is considerable data to suggest that poor property conditions occur
within the private rented sector in Lewisham;
that there are demonstrable relationships between the location of the
private rented sector in Lewisham and prevalence of deprivation, anti-social
behaviour, crime and migration in the borough, and that these necessary
conditions for applying for a selective licensing scheme differ in strength
depending on the area of the borough.
(2) to maximise the chance of a successful application to Secretary of State,
multiple options for selective licensing be submitted: one for borough-wide
selective licensing; and one grouping wards with similar characteristics
together in designations based on ward data evidence;
(3) officers undertake a public consultation on the proposal for a selective
licensing scheme (as split via the designations) which will require approval
from the Secretary of State;
(4) officers undertake a public consultation on the proposal for a new
additional licensing scheme, which does not require approval from the
Secretary of State;
(5) authority be delegated to the Executive Director for Customer Services to
finalise the consultation documents;
(6) if the new additional licensing scheme and the selective licensing schemes
are agreed, the council will incur costs of up to £400,000 to introduce the
schemes, which will be wholly recoverable from licencing fees;
(7) the consultation responses be presented to Housing Select Committee
and to Mayor and Cabinet in the autumn as part of any proposals to progress
with the two licensing schemes