Yet another council is consulting on licensing – this time the authority wants to introduce two schemes.
Currently, 31.2% of Croydon’s housing stock is privately rented and the making it significantly higher than the rest of the country. This is expected to continue to rise in the future.
The first proposed scheme is a selective licensing scheme: this would require private landlords in 14 wards to hold a Croydon property licence and to meet certain requirements. Conditions of each licence would include making sure properties are fit for purpose, providing evidence of fire safety and proper tenancy agreements, and would include proactive inspections of properties.
The council is also proposing an additional scheme for HMOs. This would extend the national mandatory scheme that applies to large HMOs, to include smaller HMOs and is also focused on tackling poor property conditions and poor property management.
Before decisions are made on introducing the schemes, the council is holding a formal consultation until January 12.
Jason Perry, executive mayor, says: “It’s important that we as a council do what we can to make sure all residents live in good quality homes. Licensing schemes like we are proposing allow the council to be more proactive when it comes to the private rented market and not just be reliant on tenants complaining about issues.
“Licensing can also be beneficial for landlords who will get support from the Council to deal with difficult situations and take action against bad tenants.
“We now want to hear the views of all those likely to be affected by the proposals, including local tenants, landlords, managing agents and members of the community who live, operate businesses or provide services in the proposed designated areas and/or the surrounding areas. I encourage anyone with an interest to get involved and have their say during the consultation.”
This article is taken from Landlord Today