Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Cabinet Member for Homes & Gateway Services, Councillor Jane Avis

Officer: Executive Director Place, Shifa Mustafa

Key decision: yes

RESOLVED: To

1.    Note the new enforcement powers available to the Private Sector Housing Enforcement and Trading Standards teams including the various responsibilities, duties and commencement dates.

2.    Adopt the proposed policy ‘Determining the Penalty and Banding the Offence’; attached as Appendix 1.  This policy covers the process to both:

·      Determine the Penalty - determine what is the most appropriate sanction to be taken against an offending landlord; and

·      Banding the Offence - where the sanction is a Financial Penalty, the level of penalty. 

3.    Resolve for the proposed policy ‘Determining the Penalty and Banding the Offence’ to supersede the existing policy “Determining the Penalty” which was approved on the 3^rd May 2017 and which the Council commenced using on the 8^th May 2017.

4.    Adopt the proposed revised Statement of Principles attached at Appendix 3 of the report which has been produced as required under regulation 13 of The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide (England) Regulations 2015 and agree to the publication of the Statement of Principles.

5.    Resolve for the proposed Statement of Principles attached at Appendix 3 of the report to  supersede the existing Statement of Principles, attached as Appendix 2 of the report, which was approved on the 3^rd May 2017 and which the Council commenced using on the 8^th May 2017”.

6.    Agree to the proposed policy ‘Determining the Penalty and Banding the Offence’ and proposed revised Statement of Principles to commence on the 1^st February 2021 in respect of powers created under the various enactments.

7.    Approve the revised proposed houses in multiple occupation licensing [“HMO”] fee payment arrangement that requires the applicant to make the same total payment under the scheme if the licence is successfully granted, but in two stages, Part A on application and Part B if the License is granted, as detailed in a fee structure section 18 of the report and documented in Appendix 4 (current fees) and Appendix 5 (proposed fees) of the report.

8.    Authorise the Council to include new or revised houses in multiple occupation licence conditions as detailed in section 17 of the report and documented in Appendix 6 (current conditions) and Appendix 7 (proposed conditions) of the report covering:

·         the safety of the electrical installation requirements, new condition 1.2.1; 

·         the revision of conditions 1.1, 1.2.2 and 1.2.3 to give a deadline of 14 days in which a licence holder must return a declaration to the Council on request;

·         the smoke and carbon monoxide alarm requirements, new condition numbers 1.3.1 and 1.3.2;

·         the control of anti-social behaviour, reworded condition 1.5 with new sections 1.5.2 and 1.5.3;

·         the storage and disposal of household waste requirement, new condition 1.6.1, 1.6.2, and 1.6.3; and

·         the introduction of minimum room standards in paragraph 2 and through 2.3 and 2.4, a system for managing breaches of 2.1 a landlord was not aware of.

9.    Agree to adopt the proposed revised fee charging mechanism for houses in multiple occupation applications attached as Appendix 5 of the report  ...  view the full decision text for item 10

The Cabinet Member for Homes & Gateway Services, Councillor Jane Avis, stated that she did not underestimate the importance of the report as keeping residents safe was a key priority of the Administration. It was noted that a third of properties in the borough, 58,000, were privately rented and 3,000 of those properties were Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO); as such it was imperative that the council had policies and enforcement in place to protect residents.

Officers were thanked by the Cabinet Member for developing the paper and their dedication to the work of keeping residents safe.

The Cabinet Member highlighted that the report sought agreement for the revised policy, Determining the Penalty and Band, to be utilised and for the revised Statement of Principles relating to smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to be agreed. It was noted that the latter was integral to resident safety as a number of people passed away from carbon monoxide poisoning annually. Furthermore, the revised fee structure and amended licensing conditions for HMOs were also included within the report for agreement. It was noted that it was proposed that all aspects would commence on 1 February 2021.

It was noted that the Government had given council’s additional powers and sanctions to impose which was welcomed by the Cabinet Member as it supported the council to tackle rogue landlords, letting agents and property managers. The Cabinet Member stated that she felt covid-19 had highlighted the situation further as people had been forced to stay in their homes and so ensuring the safety of those residents was essential. It was hoped that the private rented sector would welcome the new regulations as it was noted that each rogue landlord negatively impacted the reputation of the whole sector.

The Executive Director of Place, Shifa Mustafa, noted that recommendation 1.8 in the report would give the council additional powers and control around the disposal of waste which would also protect tenants and residents within the vicinity.

The Cabinet Member for Sustainable Croydon welcomed the report as ensuring high living standards for those living in HMOs was important. He queried whether further details could be provided in terms of the enforcement which would be put in place as the issues highlighted within the report caused a great amount of concern for tenants and residents across the borough.

In response to the query the Private Housing Manager, Nick Gracie-Langrick, stated that he had a good team who were all well trained. As part of the implementation of new powers, all team members would undergo additional training in relation to the new powers and when it was appropriate to enforce those powers. Furthermore, the team worked with landlords across Croydon and would utilise different forums to promote the new regulations to ensure landlords were aware of the new conditions and ran their properties safely.

The Cabinet Member for Croydon Renewal, Councillor Stuart King, noted that household waste management presented a challenge to all residents and was often raised with councillors. As such,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10