Two massive new rental licensing schemes are set to be approved in Brighton - and part of the reason is “uninterested letting agents” says the council’s Labour housing chief.
A statement from the Labour controlled authority says that while many of the rental properties that make up a third of the city’s housing stock are well run “issues reported through the council show that management, standards and quality of private rented aren’t consistent.”
If agreed at a committee meeting next week, consultation will begin this autumn on introducing a new Additional Licensing scheme for smaller Houses in Multiple Occupation with fewer households than Mandatory Licensed HMOs, and a Selective Licensing Scheme for all private rented homes in certain areas.
The five year term of the city’s previous city-wide Additional HMO Licensing Scheme for smaller HMOs not covered by Mandatory HMO Licensing came to an end earlier this year.
This additional licensing scheme covered around 1,900 HMOs across the city, and allowed us to work closely with landlords to improve properties.
A Selective Licensing scheme is initially proposed in four wards where, the council claims, “evidence demonstrates a clear link between poor property conditions, deprivation and private rented homes.”
The proposal also covers the option of introducing a further Selective Licensing Scheme covering 13 wards in the city on the grounds of poor property conditions.
If approved, Selective Licensing in 13 wards would form a second phase of the scheme and would be subject to approval by the Secretary of State approval.
Gill Williams, housing committee chairperson, says: “Private rented accommodation covers nearly a third of the city’s housing. It can provide people with flexible and decent homes, but we know the quality of management and maintenance is inconsistent.
“Time and again we hear from residents about their poor experiences with landlords and uninterested letting agents, who fail to maintain their property and force tenants to live in sometimes disgusting, unhabitable conditions.
“Tenants in the private sector often live with the fear of eviction or having their deposit withheld if they raise an issue. Many live with the uncertainty of short-term contracts or break clauses used to evict them at short notice.
“We know that not all landlords behave like this, we will work with landlords to improve the quality of rental accommodation.
“These proposed landlord licensing schemes will help tackle the problem of landlords who fail to manage and maintain their properties.
“We aim to raise standards in more privately rented homes in the city and help make sure that all tenants in the sector can live in safe, healthy and well-managed homes.”
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So..... “These proposed landlord licensing schemes will help tackle the problem of landlords who fail to manage and maintain their properties...." but how?
How does wasting everyone's time by making them fill in pointless forms while taking money off them (the real and only purpose of these "schemes") achieve the council's dishonestly stated goal of ".... raise[ing] standards in more privately rented homes in the city and help make sure that all tenants in the sector can live in safe, healthy and well-managed homes”?
It's ALREADY supposed to be the council's job to "... make sure that all tenants in the sector can live in safe, healthy and well-managed homes" in ALL rental properties in ALL (not just selective) parts of their area.... but of course by announcing such schemes they are indirectly admitting to not doing that as it is.
Their job is *not* supposed to be devising smokescreens behind which they extort money from helpless landlords whose only means of escape is to abandon years of work by selling-up and getting out.... but in the process having to submit to central (not local) government's even bigger rip-off CGT (or else Corp Tax if like us they are incorporated landlords) for years of inflation not profit, as well as all their other exit costs (agent's sales fees, legal costs etc).... so the choice is stay in the frying pan or give up and jump into the fire!
The attacks on landlords is extended to letting agents. These politicians never learn or even provide evidence.
Whilst I agree with you @FL, let's not forget apart from the councilors who might support them the mandarins at the council devising these schemes & lying about them are NOT elected politicians... they are faceless, unaccountable people who spend and often squander public money more or less anyway they like until - as they often do - they start to run out of it and then devote their efforts to making excuses, blaming other people and of course quietly skinning innocent landlords....
....while congratulating themselves with the lie that they are doing it to "raise standards" when of course they really meant....
...to raise MONEY!
All politicians work on the premise that if you tell the same lie often enough gradually people will start to believe the lie
Yes @CH....i think it's what Goebbels called "The Big Lie", but obviously in German at the time :)
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