Agenda item

The Director of Housing submits a report updating the Commission about the progress made with LCC’s Private Rented Sector Strategy objectives.

Members of the Commission will be asked to provide any comments or feedback and note the content of the report.

The Director of Housing introduced the item highlighting that there are around 145 thousand homes in the city and fifty thousand of these are within the private rented sector. It is vital to ensure the quality of these PRS homes for residents and to attract others to choose Leicester as a place to live, the Deputy City Mayor for Housing and Neighbourhoods requested the development of a private rented sector strategy. 

The Head of Service in housing and Team Manager in Neighbourhood Services presented the report, and it was noted that:

·       The Strategy was introduced at the end of 2021 and lots of progress is highlighted within the report from the last two years. The approach is to ensure there is a balance of support for landlords as well enforcement to improve standards for tenants.

·       The sector has been impacted by external pressures since the introduction of the strategy such as the cost-of-living crisis which is impacting tenants and landlord with affordability of rising mortgages and rents – many landlords have left the market.

·       The strategy is a live document and therefore the service develop new workstreams to respond to emerging issues. A key addition to the strategy is the inclusion of anti-poverty work. This includes cross-divisional working and partners to ensure a co-ordinated response with the aim to ensure residents can maximise resources to remain within their homes.

·       Communication has been enhanced with website improvements including a review to ensure information is accurate and the customer journey is better. Liaison work also continues with landlords and the service will be hosting a further forum soon to provide advice and continue to build relationships.

·       The service aims to work to prevent residents becoming homeless and sustaining tenancies. Despite additional pressures this has improved and prevention success is significantly higher than the national average which the service is proud to report. Where tenancies cannot be sustained, officers work to identify and secure new homes before residents become homeless but this is becoming increasingly difficult with housing shortages and increasing rents.

·       Many tenancies have been created via incentive schemes, but further improvements and financial assistance is required to bridge the gap and ensure schemes remain viable in the market as housing allowances have been frozen and rents rising. Residents can retain housing applications when in support of incentive schemes to try and ensure a pathway for a longer-term affordable solution.

·       Funding has been secured to train twelve officers to undertake EPC assessment of properties and specify works to landlords if energy performance of properties is inadequate. Tablets have also been purchased and streamline the process to ensure information can be added in real time when conducting visits to private rented sector properties. An online portal is also being developed to report issues and will initially be rolled out for reporting damp and mould.

·       The selective licensing scheme is a notable initiative to ensure improvement of standards in the private sector – this was approved by Council in July 2022 and implemented in October 2022. A new team were established to process applications and issue licences in three areas of the city. Around two thousand licences have been issued of the estimated eight thousand in the specified areas.

·       It is estimated there are around one thousand unlicensed HMOs in the city and it is recognised this is a growing market. With the exception of the pandemic, officers proactively visit and investigate to identify HMOs. The licence fee was set in 2018 and therefore due review whereby it is envisaged the income can be utilised to operate a team to process applications and assess data of expired licences.

·       A task force has been established with various teams across divisions and public sector organisations to liaise and understand conservative efforts around certain landlords or properties.

·       A task force has also been established across multiple divisions to develop an action plan and corporate response to damp and mould in properties, both social and the private rented sector.

In response to questions and comments from Members, it was noted that:

·       Information on the website is being reviewed and housing advice packs have been improved to ensure residents are aware of incentive schemes available and expectations are managed. It was agreed details will be circulated to Members on schemes to be able to share further with residents but that they be encouraged to contact the service to discuss eligibility on a case-by-case basis.

·       Homelessness Prevention Officers work with residents who are homeless to source alternative accommodation. For residents needing new homes, for example due to overcrowding, they are encouraged to look for housing and if they require a financial uplift or support to inform the housing service to be able to identify if eligibility of schemes is met or to liaise with landlords to seek to secure a tenancy.

·       Almost three thousand selective licencing applications have been received by landlords and this is slowing down. The team are working with estate agents to highlight their responsibility too if managing a property which has generated further applications. The next phase will be for officers to visit areas and gather intelligence of rented properties to make tenants and landlords aware of the requirement for a licence.

·       The service publishes data every six months on who gets social housing which includes average wait times for properties and bands. It was agreed that the latest data be shared with Members as well as information of where this is updated online.

·       The Local Authority has no powers to control private sector rent charges despite the growing proportion of homes in the market in the private sector and increasing rents. Discretionary housing payments are used to bridge the gap between housing allowances and rent to help residents with affordability, but the preferred long-term solution would be to ensure there is more social housing.

·       Hazards are identified as Category 1 or Category 2 when properties are inspected to determine to issue a licence. 29 hazards are inspected, such as excess cold, trip hazards and damp or mould etc. Category 1 are more serious, and landlords are duty bound to remedy.

·       Rent in the private sector across Leicester and surrounding areas has not had an impact of people having to relocate from the city as reported in a recent newspaper article as has been the case in some other cities.

·       A joint task force has been established to focus on damp and mould in properties across the city which meets regularly, and further information will be provided to the commission in future.

AGREED:

·       The Commission noted the report.

·       The Commission be provided with the additional information requested.