The HMO Enforcement Team Leader introduced the report and summarised the findings of the consultation.  He advised that the proposed changes to the additional licensing scheme for HMOs included the introduction of 5 year licenses for accredited landlords, and changes in fees that would reduce costs for compliant landlords and increase costs for non-compliant landlords.  The scheme had been making a difference to the standards of HMOs in the city but there was more to do to improve conditions in this sector.

The Panel asked a number of other questions, including about; the impacts and fairness of the scheme on families that wanted to take in more than two lodgers and on weekday lodgers who worked in the city, the problem of bidding wars created by agents, whether longer licenses could lead to a drop in standards, what happens if landlords breach their license, whether the finances of the scheme were sustainable, whether there was a public register of HMOs, the validity of various points raised by the Residential Landlords Association, and the types of landlords operating in the city. 

The Panel questioned whether there was an opportunity to build additional security for tenants into the scheme, such as longer tenures and rent level guarantees.  The Panel suggested that longer tenancies could encourage tenants to take more care of HMO properties and could help to address other issues often associated with HMOs, such as unkempt gardens.  The Panel heard that it was unlikely that these controls could be built into the licensing scheme for legal reasons.  It was suggested that there may be an opportunity to influence the market by including these as discretionary criteria within the Council’s Landlord Accreditation Scheme.

The Panel noted that each household was entitled to two free bulky waste collections per year but that many tenants of HMOs were unable to access these because the free collections were used by landlords, and were often required to pay for bulky waste collections.  The Panel suggested that the City Council looks at ways of addressing this issue, possibly through changing waste collection policy in relation to HMOs or by encouraging landlords to pay for tenants’ bulky waste collections.

The Panel also agreed that the following comments should be referred to the City Executive Board on 15 October:

1.    That the Housing Panel restated its support for the additional licensing scheme for HMOs;

2.    That the Housing Panel welcomed the success of the consultation and that officers should be commended for the high level and quality of engagement achieved.

The Panel agreed that the following recommendations should be made to the City Executive Board on 15 October 2015:

1.    That the City Council should encourage landlords and agents offer longer term tenancies and rent level guarantees, and explore the option of including these as discretionary criteria within the Landlord Accreditation Scheme.

2.    That the City Council should consider whether there is anything that can be done to address the inequity whereby many tenants living in HMOs are unable  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12

Contact Officer: Ian Wright, Environmental Health Service Manager

Tel 01865 252553, iwright@oxford.gov.uk

The Environmental Health Service Manager and HMO Enforcement Team Leader introduced the report.  The Chair noted that scrutiny members would like to have been involved earlier on in the process.

The Panel asked a number of questions including about; rates of compliance with conditions, information sharing with tenants, restrictions on new HMOs, legal limits on uses of income from HMOs, weekday tenants, children living in HMOs, and whether the City Council has any powers to limit rent increases and ensure longer tenures.

The Panel questioned whether there is more scope to incentivise good landlord practices and dis-incentivise bad landlord practices.  The Panel heard that the City Council could look at lower charges for landlords who comply with the scheme and introducing a ‘polluter pays’ principle where landlords whose properties require more checks could contribute more to the cost of this.  However, there is a fine balance and the scheme needs to remain self-funding.  Fee structure options will be presented to Members in October.

The Panel also questioned whether the City Council has scope to introduce tougher penalties for non-compliance, for example when landlords seek to renew their HMO licence having failed to comply with the conditions of their previous licence.  The Panel heard that the City Council is one of the toughest local authorities nationally in terms of enforcement but has scope to be tougher on non-compliance.  The balance of activity is likely to shift somewhat from focusing on unlicensed HMOs towards ensuring greater compliance.

The Panel agreed:

-       To support the HMO scheme and option 3 – renewing the HMO licensing scheme in its entirety for a further 5 years, noting that consideration should be given to appropriate incentives and disincentives for landlords, and to the balance between taking a more pro-active approach to compliance whilst continuing efforts to extend the licensing scheme to cover more HMOs. 

-       To recommend that enforcement within the private rented sector is a corporate priority and that it is necessary to take a different approach to enforcement in different sectors.

-       To review the proposed October report setting out the results of the statutory consultation and the proposed future of the licensing scheme, before it goes to the City Executive Board. 

-       To ask officers to look into a suggestion that HMO tenants should be entitled to free bulky item collections.

-       To follow up on a question about controls over HMOs in the new Barton development with planning officers.

-       That comparative data between investment levels in HMO stock compared to other sectors would be useful.