Agenda item

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 made on or after the 1^st February 2021.

10.Agree to adopt the proposed revised HMO licence conditions attached as Appendix 7 for new HMO licences issued on or after the 1^st February 2021.

11.Authorise officers to arrange the publication of the documentation, subject to updates to ensure that typographical matters, such as reference to draft and seeking Cabinet approval, are updated prior to publication.

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, he welcomed the proposed powers and noted that responsibility would be placed on the landlord to act once they were alerted of issues in terms of waste disposal by writing to occupiers within 14 days. This would support tackling the concerns of residents regarding absentee landlords who did not manage the properties appropriately. The Cabinet Member concluded that while he welcomed the measures he stressed that he was fully aware that the vast majority of landlords acted responsibly.

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Homes & Gateway Services, Councillor Lynne Hale, thanked officers for the work that had gone into the report, which she welcomed. It was stated that there was no place in Croydon for landlords who would exploit tenants or provide unsafe or substandard accommodation. She welcomed the wider enforcement responsibilities and powers introduced by the Government which enabled the proposed changes to conditions and licensing fees.

Paragraph 18 of the report discussed the Croydon Landlord Licensing Scheme which had been in place between October 2015 and September 2020 and the Shadow Cabinet Member queried whether a financial assessment had been undertaken in light of the Gaskin v London Borough of Richmond court ruling in terms of the scheme.

The Cabinet Member stated that an application had been made to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government in July 2020 to extend the Selective Licensing Scheme (SLS) but a response had not yet been received. The Private Housing Manager confirmed that the court ruling the Shadow Cabinet Member had referred to had introduced a split fee payment structure and the need for an additional payment had incurred an additional cost, however an assessment of that cost had not been made.

It was noted by the Private Housing Manager that the new fee structure had been introduced in December 2019 following a Cabinet decision and that there had been issues with collecting the second payment. The council, however had made it clear that should the Part B payment not be received within 14 days of the request being made, then enforcement would take place and should the payment still not be made then the license would be considered not duly made and there would be no refund for the Part A payment. As such, the landlord would be required to start a new application as the property would be considered unlicensed and subject to penalty.

The Chair of the Streets, Environment & Homes Scrutiny Sub-Committee, Councillor Leila Ben-Hassel, informed Members that the Committee would look at private sector homes regulations once the Secretary of State had made a decision on the application for the renewed Selective Licensing Scheme. It was noted that the additional powers outlined within the report would amount to additional work for the private housing team and Councillor Ben-Hassel queried whether there were sufficient resources in place to ensure enforcement took place.

In response, the Private Housing Manager confirmed that there would be an implementation period whilst training and the development of new procedures and policies took place but after that period it was hoped that staff would be able to use the powers effectively to protect the residents of Croydon.

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

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 May 2017 and which the Council commenced using on the 8 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 May 2017 and which the Council commenced using on the 8 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 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 within 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 made on or after the 1^st February 2021.

10.Agree to adopt the proposed revised HMO licence conditions attached as Appendix 7 for new HMO licences issued on or after the 1 February 2021.

11.Authorise officers to arrange the publication of the documentation, subject to updates to ensure that typographical matters, such as reference to draft and seeking Cabinet approval, are updated prior to publication.