North East Lincolnshire Council is to consider whether to go out to public consultation on measures designed to clamp down on ‘rogue’ private landlords in one of the borough’s most deprived wards.
At the Cabinet meeting on December 11, councillors will vote on plans to go out for a 10-week consultation on the introduction of Selective Licensing in parts of East Marsh. If approved the consultations will run from January-March 2025.
The creation of two Areas of Action will also be considered in parts of Sidney Sussex and Heneage Wards to motivate landlords in these areas to work more closely with the council to bring their properties up to standard.
Selective Licensing aims to encourage private landlords within a designated area to meet their responsibilities to provide safe, warm and secure homes for tenants. Landlords would have to apply to the council for the licence before renting out their properties, which would then be inspected to ensure that they meet acceptable safety and living standards.
The licence would cover issues such as overcrowding, heating and making the property safe. It would ensure homes have essential safety measures installed, such as smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and emergency lighting. Landlords would also have to tackle anti-social behaviour and management of waste at a property.
Selective Licensing would give the council extra powers to take enforcement action against those landlords that do not comply, if necessary, through the courts. It would also include powers to punish poor landlords with hefty fines. This could include recovering rent from a landlord, who lets an unlicensed property (rent repayment order). Registered Social Landlords and their properties would be exempt from selective licensing.
A landlord’s failure to apply for a licence to rent a property in a designated selective licensing area is a criminal offence. It could result in prosecution, with the potential of a fine of up to £20,000.
Measures within the licence conditions could lead to a reduction in anti-social behaviour and fly tipping. Tenants may need to be accountable for their behaviour, and landlords would need to work closely with partners to tackle the issues around anti-social behaviour. Where tenants have been proven to cause anti-social behaviour in previous properties, support could be put in place to work with the household directly. It places the onus both on landlords and tenants to meet their responsibilities.
The areas where the council is considering consulting on selective licensing have significant problems: East Marsh is in the top 1% of most deprived wards in the country; life expectancy is the lowest in the borough, and the crime rate is the highest in the borough; 24.6% of people are in fuel poverty.
East Marsh also has some of the highest concentrations of private rented accommodation, high levels of anti-social behaviour, poor property conditions, and frequent reports of nuisance noise and fly-tipping.
Heneage Ward is also in the top 1% of most deprived areas in the country and, in Sidney Sussex, 39.5% of households within the proposed Area of Action are experiencing household deprivation.
Selective Licensing was introduced under the Government Housing Act 2004. It gives councils the power to designate areas for Selective Licensing, subject to certain criteria. The criteria includes poor housing conditions, high levels of deprivation, high levels of migration, high levels of crime and a significant anti-social behaviour problem.
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