Midlands city reveals plans to license more HMOs
Peterborough council says higher standards will make properties more attractive, raise prices and therefore should be welcomed by landlords – who will pay £1,100 per licence.
Letting agents and landlords running HMO properties in a big midlands city are to face more red tape after Peterborough council announced it is to sweep some 1,800 properties into a new Additional licensing scheme.
The council is now conducting a consultation finishing in July within which it says the £1,100 fee for a five-year licence is ‘justified’, the same price as its existing mandatory HMO scheme, but more than its selective licensing scheme, which costs £908.
The consultation document estimates that there are some 2,500 HMOs within the city – up from 1,410 in 2011 – although the number of smaller HMOs is unknown, according to the council.
It reports that 563 properties are currently licensed, with a further focus on about 200 mandatory HMOs also believed to be licensable. It also says there are 2,000 unlicensed HMOs, most of which will be three to four bedrooms.
Encumbered
Defending the fees for the new Additional scheme, the council says: “Those who feel encumbered by additional cost in bringing properties up to standard to meet the licence conditions should be meeting those conditions in any case and are thus contributing to the reason for the introduction of additional licencing.
“The council takes the view that an increase in living standards in the areas identified by the scheme is likely to result in an increase in the desirability of properties in those areas, thus market forces may well influence better return on investment.”
Four percent of properties identified as being mandatory licensable HMOs have been found to have Category 1 hazards – double the private rented stock citywide average of 2%.
As well as addressing problems such as disrepair and anti-social behaviour, the authority says its proposed scheme will positively promote compliant landlords and make it easier to involve all landlords in strategies such as crime reduction initiatives.
Fully committed
Councillor Alison Jones (main image), cabinet member for housing and communities, adds: “We are fully committed to working with partners and landlords to improve accommodation standards across the city.
“Our selective licensing initiative has already proved successful and helped enhance standards of homes in the private rented sector.”
The consultation ends on on 31st July.
Read more about property licensing.
