Agenda item

Bez Atsebaha, Director of Community Safety, Security and Resilience updated the Committee on the Property Licensing scheme. The following points were highlighted:

·       In terms of performance of the Private Rented Sector (PRS) , council received over 7,500 property licensing scheme applications since the scheme started in January 2020.

·       Since April 2024, Council has received 1500 applications of the new selective scheme for Tollington, Hill Rise and Finsbury park since May 2024.

·       On the issue of Revenue received, meeting was advised that in the last 2 quarters Council has received over £Im to administer licenses and processes in Islington.

·       With regards to processing of licenses, meeting was advised that there has been a significant reduction to 58 days in comparison to 100 days due to a new group manager being employed who is giving clear guidance to the team.

·       In terms of licensing inspection, meeting was informed that officers are carrying out 145 inspections every month in comparison to less than 60.

·       Meeting was informed that a lot of enforcement ongoing that recently group managers found 257 unregistered properties, that more work needs to be done in terms of education, engagement and then enforcement to ensure that more properties are brought into the scheme.

·       Staff are being trained on civil penalty civil procedures and are now issuing more penalty notices to those not abiding and improving living conditions within the private rented sector. The Section has improved its engagement and communication by employing a tenant and landlord engagement officer running drop in session for private renters and landlords.

·       Meeting was also notified that the website has improved with FAQ being provided. It was noted that the platform for the licensing application is user friendly, noting that there is a phone line for residents to call in and receive support. Also the tenant and landlord engagement is also supporting tenant and landlords with online application.

·       With regard the 285 Private housing requests over the last 2 quarters , meeting was advised that more could be done in this area and there should be an improvement with the recent employment of an officer on the 3 months.

·       On the low civil penalty notices issued, meeting was advised that although enforcement is key it is still important that Council explore the route of education, then engagement, that enforcement should be the last resort.

·       On the 74% of landlords not being accredited, officer advised that since the last meeting in July the figures have gone up to 24% from 19%, that the Council will continue on the engagement route so as to increase the accreditation and that this issue will continue to be monitored.

·       On the possibility of extending the selective licensing to other wards in the borough, the Assistant Director advised that a report is scheduled for Executive seeking consultation, that a lot of modelling is being undertaken and officers will be looking at data to determine if more wards could be included to the new scheme. Feedback from the consultation exercise will be shared with the committee in 2025. 

·       The Executive Member for Housing Needs reiterated that although there is a preference for a borough wide scheme, it should be noted that approval is by the Secretary of State after meeting all the necessary requirements.

·       The Chair thanked Director for the update on the licensing scheme, noting that there is scope for the scheme to be expanded nationwide especially in light of the new central government direction on this issue and that Council should endeavour to incentivise landlords who are yet to be accredited by improving an offer and not await central government. Chair reminded meeting that the scheme should not be viewed as a means of generating revenue but improving conditions for those renters in private sector accommodation.

RESOLVED:
That the report be noted