The Head of Planning & Regulatory Services has submitted a report to update the Panel on the year 1 actions of the Selective Licensing scheme. Cllr Linda Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing and Gail Siddall, Regulatory Services Manager have been invited to present the report and answer questions. The Panel is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

Cllr Linda Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing introduced the report, which provided an update on the year one actions of the Selective Licensing scheme. She highlighted that Oxford’s Selective Licensing scheme was one of the largest in the country and Oxford City Council was the only authority where the whole city was covered by the scheme.

Gail Siddall, Regulatory Services Manager added that the timescales for implementation were very tight and as a result, officers had endured a particularly intense period of work. She provided an overview of the challenges during implementation as set out in the report and advised that the scheme would help the Council address poor conditions in private rented housing stock within the city. The Council was currently recruiting for more enforcement staff.

Cllr Dunne left the meeting and did not return.

In response to questions, the Panel was advised that:

·       The estimates set out in the report were based on the Council’s existing data on private rented sector housing in the city.

·       Tenants were becoming more aware of measures such as the use of Rent Repayment Orders if their private rented property was unlicenced.

·       The Council had robust financial penalty policies for cases where unlicenced properties were identified and landlords did not comply with the requirement to obtain a licence.

·       The figures in the report would be checked by the Regulatory Services Manager to ensure they only covered the year one period, as the current figures appeared to cross over into year two.

·       The initial Selective Licensing scheme plans included the rollout of a tenant communication and engagement campaign, however this work had not yet started.

·       If Members had any contacts for tenants’ unions, officers would be happy to engage with them if Members shared details.

·       The 60% inspection target for private rented properties across the city was deemed tough but realistic based on the information available.

·       Targets would be set for year two of the scheme.

·       The Selective Licensing fees were reviewed annually; the scheme was required to be cost neutral (i.e. income must equal expenditure).

·       The Council did not hold data on tenants’ success using Rent Repayment Orders.

·       The Council’s Tenancy Relations Officer would prevent evictions from properties which were not licenced, as eviction from unlicenced properties was illegal. Once a property was licenced, eviction notices could be served, so Selective Licensing did not prevent evictions.

·       Most students lived in HMOs, which were not covered by the scheme; private rented properties managed by the universities were exempt from the scheme as they were required to comply with a separate code of practice.

·       A combination of incentives for submitting Selective Licensing applications and working hard with letting agents was likely responsible for the success of the scheme in year one.

·       Licences were issued for five years.

The Panel agreed to recommend to Cabinet that:

1.    The Council rolls out a Selective Licensing scheme communications campaign aimed at tenants to raise awareness of the scheme and tenants’ rights; and actively engages with tenants unions as part of the campaign.

Gail Siddall, Regulatory Services Manager left the meeting and did not return.