Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety presented a report on a proposed five-year, Borough-wide Private Rented Property Licensing (PRPL) Scheme to commence from September 2019.

By Minute 54 (19 February 2014), the Council adopted a Borough-wide PRPL scheme that covered the five-year period ending August 2019.  The Cabinet Member advised that the key principles of the original scheme were to reduce anti-social behaviour (ASB) associated with private rented accommodation and to provide greater protections for private tenants, many of whom were regarded as economically vulnerable individuals and families.  One measure of the success of the current scheme was the greater reduction in ASB across the private rented sector over the course of a study that covered the period 2014/15 to 2016/17, notwithstanding that the level of privately let properties in the Borough had grown from 5.2% in 2001 to 27% in 2017. 

The Cabinet Member referred to the comprehensive package of evidence at Appendix 1 to the report which had been compiled in support of the Council’s application.  The evidence showed that the Borough had 20,115 privately rented properties in the Borough in 2017 and that figure was expected to increase towards 25,000 by 2022.  Every ward in the Borough had over 20% of privately rented accommodation, which exceeded the Government’s indicator of 19% contained in guidance issued in 2015 as being ‘a high proportion of privately rented properties’ against which applications would be assessed.  An extensive consultation exercise had also been undertaken and the feedback showed that the majority of local residents wished the scheme to continue on a Borough-wide basis.

The Cabinet Member stated that she was confident that the Council’s proposed scheme met all of the criteria set by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for a Borough-wide scheme under the discretionary licensing provisions of the Housing Act 2004.  However, in order to ensure that the local community continued to benefit from a PRPL scheme beyond August 2019, it was proposed that the relevant Director, in consultation with the Cabinet Member, have authority to agree any modifications to the scheme that may be required by MHCLG should the Council’s case for a Borough-wide scheme be declined.

Cabinet Members spoke on the significant improvements that the current scheme had brought to the Borough in terms of enhancing the living conditions of tenants as well as the benefits to the whole community from reduced anti-social behaviour, reduced deprivation and the responsible disposal of household waste.  The point was also made that the Government should be actively encouraging local authorities to implement PRPL schemes wherever they are considered necessary and not to make the process so onerous solely to protect the financial interests of private landlords.

On the issue of the fees to be charged under the new scheme, the Cabinet Member confirmed that the ‘Part A’ fee of £470 related to the cost of processing an application, while the ‘Part B’ fee of £430 would only apply to successful applications.  There would, however, be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80