Tenants will benefit from improved housing conditions and fire safety while neighbourhoods will be better able to tackle problems such as litter and noise as landlords of shared homes become licensed next week(5 November).
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Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) – properties of two or more storeys and three or more occupiers – in targeted areas will have to become licensed in a move designed to improve living conditions as well as neighbourhood relations.
The smaller HMOs are in the wards of Hanover and Elm Grove, Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, St Peters and North Laine, Hollingdean & Stanmer and Queen’s Park. These are the wards with the highest concentrations of smaller HMOs.
HMO licensing was brought in under the Housing Act 2004 to improve conditions for tenants. This legislation also provided provisions for additional licensing areas where a need was identified, such as those included in the current proposals.
Councillor Liz Wakefield, Chair of the Housing Committee, said:
“In some areas of the city we have high concentrations of HMOs, and unfortunately there is a minority of landlords whose management is less than effective and this can encourage noise and litter nuisance. This additional licensing aims to address these problems while improving tenants’ housing conditions.
“We think that £2.46 a week is small price to pay for the assurance that tenants enjoy decent and safe homes and that neighbours do not have to put up with problems of poorly managed HMOs.”
Property group manager for Thornton Properties Simon Caplin welcomed the move saying that a fire in a licensed HMO four years ago in the city was contained to a single room because of licensing.
He said: “Due to the fact we had our fire regulations in place and up to date, the fire was contained to the room itself. Had the property not been licensed then doubtlessly the fire would have spread throughout the building.
“I firmly believe that all properties being introduced to the ‘shared user’ market should be licensed.”
The move is backed by East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service which said that HMOs in the city have had fire safety issues with a high proportion of domestic dwelling fires.
During the consultation ESFRS said: “Today most of the issues centre around the responsibilities of the relevant landlords and how pro-active they are, especially with fire safety.
“When a premises is licensed by the local authority I believe it takes away some of this doubt and provides a prescriptive approach to the fire safety standards similar to the old defunct fire certification process.
“Therefore, an extension of licensing HMOs would appear to have merit that the Fire Authority would support.”
The licensing comes into force from Monday 5 November 2012 and will last 5 years. The council cannot profit from any licensing scheme and the fee that is set must be justifiable and representative of each individual local authority’s process.
Current fee calculations, covering a license for 5 years, give an average license fee of £641, which works out at just over £2.46 a week for a whole property.
The move follows extensive consultation and evidence gathering including an independent door to door survey of residents and businesses in the wards that found over 70% in favour. An online portal consultation, which included large numbers of landlords and agents responding, was not in favour with 56% against 44%.
The council currently licences more 800 HMOs of three or more storeys which have five or more tenants across the City.
