Agenda item

Recommendations to Cabinet on the private rented sector

The commission to finalise recommendations to Cabinet on the private rented sector.

Minutes:

The Chair then took the commission through recommendations on the private rented sector emailed across to commission members prior to the meeting.

 

On recommendation 1 below, the commission heard that the a large number of private renters who were covered under the original scheme between 2016 and 2020 would now fall out of regulation under the new scheme and could suddenly be at a detriment by seeing a dramatic drop in the standards of housing or protections that they would have otherwise fallen under. The commission agreed that it was important an impact assessment is carried out by officers.

 

Recommendation 1: The Cabinet Member asks officers to carry out an assessment of the impact on the private rented sector which once fell under regulation (between 2016 and 2020) but is now outside of regulation. Have housing conditions for these tenants got worse as a result?

 

On recommendation 2 below, the commission heard that currently the landlords that apply for “gold standard” license receive a reduction in their license fee as an incentive for providing higher standards of housing maintenance and facilities. The commission agreed that in light of the influx of refugees from Ukraine and other parts of the world trying to escape war and terror from oppressive and fascist regimes, landlords that offer affordable housing to refugees should also receive this incentive.

 

Recommendation 2: Landlords who apply for the current “gold standard” license receive a reduction in their fee as an incentive.  The Cabinet Member should extend this incentive to landlords who offer affordable housing to refugees arriving in the borough.  This recommendation is clearly of a more urgent nature because of recent tragic developments in Ukraine.  

 

On recommendation 3 below the commission discussed that the parameters and reasons for a home to be classed as empty need to be defined such as length of time it’s been empty and reasons for it being empty such as passing away of occupant to make it financially viable for Council to chase those landlords. The commission also considered whether including energy efficiency of the property in the licensing scheme might be beneficial in the wake of the climate emergency. The commission agreed to revise recommendation 3 to reflect this discussion. The commission also agreed to formulate another recommendation 5 to link energy efficiency of properties into the licensing fees.

 

Recommendation 3: The Cabinet Member considers extending landlord licensing to cover those who own empty homes. Some elements will not be relevant to them but extension of those elements which could help tackle negative environmental impacts and discourage landlords from leaving homes empty.

 

Recommendation 3 (revised): The Cabinet Member considers extending landlord licensing to cover inhabitable homes that have been empty for more than three months. Some elements will not be relevant to them but extension of those elements which could help tackle negative environmental impacts and discourage landlords from leaving homes empty.

 

The commission considered and agreed recommendation 4.

 

Recommendation 4: During our scrutiny of this issue, it became clear that shortages of, and difficulties recruiting, environmental health officers in housing enforcement was a risk to Southwark's plans for extending licensing. The Cabinet Member should work with the Leader and Cabinet colleagues to investigate what steps could be taken via the council's HR processes to strengthen Southwark's recruitment in this area.

 

The commission then revisited recommendation 1 and heard that the under the original 2016 scheme places that seem to be particularly vulnerable to historically having bad housing conditions such as block of flats above shops or main roads due to poor maintenance by landlords were covered. The commission agreed that it was important to ask the Cabinet to look at what steps could be taken and develop a road map to bring these properties back in scope under the new scheme. The commission agreed to revised recommendation 1 below.

 

Recommendation 1 (revised): The Cabinet Member asks officers to carry out an assessment of the impact on the private rented sector which once fell under regulation (between 2016 and 2020) but is now outside of regulation. The Cabinet should also review whether housing conditions have deteriorated as a result of this and also develop a roadmap to bring further wards within the scope of the new Private Rented Sector (PRS) scheme, particularly those areas covered by the 2016-2020 regulations.

 

The commission also agreed to a new recommendation 5.

 

Recommendation 5: The Cabinet member considers that the rental properties having a higher ranking on their energy performance certificate receive a reduction in their licensing fees to encourage landlords to improve energy efficiencies of their properties.