Statements on Notice under Council Procedure Rule 11.10(b) may be made.  Statements do not need to be directed to a specific Councillor.

Statements on notice must, by the Constitution, be notified to the Head of Law and Governance by no later that 9.30am on Friday 8 July 2011.

Full details of any statements for which the required notice has been given will be circulated to Members of Council before the meeting.

Councillor Tony Brett gave the following Statement on Notice

“I want to make a brief statement about the implementation of new additional HMO licensing scheme. While I recognise and fully support the vital work of holding landlords to account and ensuring adequate and safe conditions for tenants I do want to sound a note of caution about discouraging landlords to stay in the HMO market.

Oxford is a lively and vibrant City and has a large population of young people trying to make their way after School, College or University.  Housing is scarce and expensive and living in HMOs is the only way many such people can afford to stay in Oxford.  I have seen one example (near to my own home) and heard of others where I wonder if perhaps this Council is requiring more work than is strictly necessary on properties that are being used as-built (i. e. with no extra bedrooms or partitions, or rooms being used as bedrooms that were intended for other use), and to modern building regulations standards. While I of course understand the duty of care the Council has to HMO residents I hope that will be kept in balance with the need to maintain a supply of HMOs for those who are not able to afford to live in our wonderful City of Oxford in any other way. Our City's economy is strong and healthy and this is due in no small part to the number of skilled professionals that live here.  I would hate to get into a position where they can no longer afford to live in Oxford because too many landlords have chosen to leave the HMO market.

It is a delicate balance and I certainly have no sympathy for landlords that don't look after their properties ensuring they are safe for their tenants, nor for tenants who engage in antisocial behaviour.   On the other hand I don't want to see tenants who are responsible members of the community who do not keep neighbours awake, do not have loud parties, do not abuse parking and properly manage their refuse and recycling to be the unintentional victims of a licensing regime that is meant to protect them, not drive their landlords out of the rental market and therefore them out of their homes.

I am grateful to officers for taking the time to discuss this issue with me in the last week or so and grateful for all the excellent work they are doing in bringing Oxford’s HMO stock up to a good and safe standard.  I also welcome the fact that the council has taken my comments on board and I'm sure officers will bear them in mind when making future assessments of works required to recently-built and/or non-overcrowded residential dwellings.  I will be asking the portfolio member for housing for an update in a question to Council later in the year on progress in this important and delicately-balanced area.”

Councillor Turner in response to the statement said in the future smaller HMO’s would require a license.  Work continued by Officers with landlords across the private rented sector and the scheme would continue to be monitored and a report would be submitted in the autumn.