Agenda item

Report attached.

The Cabinet considered a joint report of Councillors Kath Pratt, Portfolio Holder for Housing Health and Wellbeing and Steven Smithson, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services on an updated Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy.

Councillor Pratt commented that most private sector landlords provided a good service, but a small element did not meet the requisite standard.  The Council would be tough on those landlords and this Policy would help to drive the improvement of standards and define the remedial actions to be taken, if necessary.  The Policy explained the enforcement actions available and would let both the landlord and tenant know what to expect.

Councillor Munsif Dad BEM JP commented that the loss Selective Landlord Licensing Scheme meant that this Policy was needed.

Councillor June Harrison asked what provision was in place to remove rubbish ether dumped by existing tenants, or left behind by tenants moving out of a property.  She also asked whether the landlord could be held responsible for its removal or be prosecuted.  Mark Hoyle, Head of Regeneration and Housing responded that generally this would be a fly tipping issue, which would be dealt with by Waste Services.  However, a full written reply would be provided.

Approval of the report was not deemed a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

The last Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy had been approved in June 2017 and was due for review in June 2019.  Due to further changes in legislation since 2017, and the need to refresh and strengthen a range of enforcement options, it was proposed that the policy be updated.

The primary purpose of the Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy was to ensure that:

• Tenants of private landlords and registered social landlords live in homes that were free of unacceptable hazards and risks to their health and safety;
• All houses in multiple occupation (HMO’s) were safe and well managed and all relevant management regulations were adhered to;
• All licensable properties were licensed and all licensing conditions were met;
• Private housing was not left empty for an unreasonable amount of time and/or became an eyesore and nuisance to neighbouring properties;
• Privately owned property and land did not present a statutory nuisance to other land owners, and did not directly or indirectly present an unacceptable risk to public health, safety or the environment; and
• The Council met its statutory obligations in relation to private housing.

There had been a strengthening of legislation in a number of areas, including electrical safety and energy efficiency and this has been addressed in the Policy and Appendices.

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 provided new powers for local housing authorities and the previous policy outlined these.  However, those powers had been developed since their introduction, and the revised policy reflected this.

The updated Policy was attached to the report and included revised content relating to: calculation of financial penalties, civil penalty notices, enforcement fees and charges, smoke and carbon dioxide.

There were other minor technical alterations to reflect wording and regulation changes by National Government.

Overall, all of the changes would enhance the Council’s’ ability to enforce the relevant legislation and comply with its statutory duties.

Enforcement and collection of fees at the proposed rate would provide income in accordance with services provided and should act as a deterrent to poor quality and “rogue" landlords.

By law all fees recovered were ring fenced to Environmental Health’s Housing Standards budget and would be used, for example, to support the service, to improve service delivery and / or offer enhanced services.

There were no alternative options for consideration or reasons

Resolved                                    -    That Cabinet:

(1)   Notes the report on the updated Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy.

(2)   Approves the Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy attached to the report and delegates authority to the Head of Environmental Health to make any necessary changes to the Policy to reflect future changes to legislation and case law.