Agenda item

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report on the start of the scheme with data up to 31^st December 2022,on the Selective Licensing Scheme

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a presentation about the Selective Licensing Scheme and provided an update on the data recorded up to 31 December 2022.

The Deputy City Mayor for Culture, Leisure, Sport and Regulatory Services introduced the presentation, noting that the aim of the scheme was to improve the standard of housing in the private sector.

The Head of Regulatory, Neighbourhood and Environmental Services presented information about the Selective Licensing Scheme which included a summary of the scheme headlines; application and inspection processes; hazards and images of hazards identified; and plans around future communications.

It was noted that:

• The scheme went live on the 10^th October 2022.
• A team had been recruited to resource the scheme, which consisted of a Team Manager, an Admin Manager, two Senior Regulatory officers, 17 Housing Inspectors and three Admin Support Officers.
• There were three cluster areas in the scheme, Fosse, Stoneygate and Westcotes Wards, and across the area there were around 8500 properties that fall into the private rent sector.
• In terms of data, at this point 413 applications had been received; 213 inspections had been carried out. 35 draft licenses and 42 full licenses had been issued.
• A new computer system had been introduced, which helped to streamline the process and capture more data, this enabled the team to action applications in a more efficient way.
• The Selective Licensing Team were currently working to develop a digital inspection process, that would enable officers to complete inspections digitally using tablets, and to upload the data when they returned to the office.
• The Scheme was within budget, with the original aim of the scheme, to self-fund the department using resources generated from the scheme, successfully being adhered to and avoiding the possibility of the scheme being operated at a loss.
• All information regarding the scheme was available on the Councils website. A post code checker was available for landlords to check if  their property was included in the scheme area before making an application. There was also a telephone line for support.
• Once an inspection had been carried out, if only minor issues were found a draft license could be issued until the works were carried out. Major issues would need to be resolved before a draft license could be issued.
• The current turn around for applications was 7 weeks, with an average of 32 days to issue a license. Which was within target.
• The scheme was due to run for 5 years.
• The aim was to undertake 3 inspections of a property over the 5 years of the scheme.
• The scheme was being operated alongside the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System, which was a national scheme and provided consistency across all Local Authorities for assessing hazards within private rented properties. It covered 29 hazards in total which were split

across two categories. Category 1 – Serious and immediate risk. Category 2 – Less serious hazards.

• Hazards were found in 46% of inspections, split approximately as 40% in Category 1 and 60% in Category 2.
• Work was in progress in conjunction with City Wardens to identify properties of concern and refer those to the scheme.
• A quarterly newsletter would be sent to landlords from January 2023.
• An early bird discount was currently available to landlords until April 2023, which would reduce the fee from £1090 to £750. Additional press releases were due to be advertised to encourage landlords to come forward.
• Support sessions for landlords were being planned in libraries across the district.

In response to Members’ questions, it was noted that:

• The scheme costs had been based on how many applications were expected to be received and the number of private rented accommodations in the area. This was compared against the resources needed to inspect that property over the 5-year period, plus any follow up work.
• The overall cost of the scheme for 5 years was £8.65M, with £5.9M being staffing costs. The remaining balance were overheads plus the cost of the discounted fees.
• The expected number of applications was 7,900, which worked out at an average cost per license of £1090.
• Once a property had been inspected, they would receive a full license if no action was required. If actions was required, a draft license would be drawn up, in which the landlord would have 14 days to appeal or challenge the decision. After 14 days, if nothing were to be raised, a full license would be issued.
• If the actions requested were not completed, the Council would have the right to rescind the license. If the issues were minor, existing housing enforcement powers could be used to issue an improvement notice.

RECOMMENDED:

That the Commission receive a report providing an overview of the Selective Licensing team’s work in six months’ time