Councils making good progress with new housing licensing laws

Landlords and councils are progressing well with new housing licensing laws according to a comprehensive survey released today by LACORS, the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services.

In April 2006 the act introduced mandatory licensing for houses in multiple occupation with three or more storeys, occupied by five or more people, forming two or more households. These houses pose the most significant health and safety risks to tenants, and landlords who fail to obtain a licence risk fines of up to £20,000.

In collaboration with the National HMO Network, LACORS conducted a survey of all English councils in March this year, to establish how well they are exercising new licensing powers introduced by the Housing Act 2004.

Key findings of the survey:

Councils have received 22, 314 applications from landlords who operate licensable HMOs, affecting over 111,570 tenants. As at 2 March 2007, 6,962 property licences have been granted.

86 per cent of councils are already using a range of tools to identify HMOs being operated illegally without a licence.

95 per cent of councils work in partnership with other councils to share good practice in relation to the Housing Act 2004, and 90 per cent of those councils said the partnership arrangements are either very or quite effective.

13 per cent of councils have had cases where the landlord has failed the 'fit and proper person' assessment. In most cases, the council has negotiated with the landlord for another person to take over management of the property.

LACORS is continuing to work hard to assist councils with implementation of the Housing Act 2004 and will use the results of this survey to establish what further support is needed. In the meantime, LACORS has made a number of key recommendations:

The minority of councils which have not yet started processing HMO licence applications must make this their top priority.

Councils should adopt a more risk-based approach to their property inspection regime to make sure licensed HMOs that are poorly managed or present a serious risk to the occupants are given highest priority.

Councils with a large stock of licensable HMOs need to review their staffing allocation to make sure adequate resources are available.

Given that many councils will be reviewing their licence fee structure within the next 2 years, they should work on a regional basis to review the actual costs associated with running a licensing scheme and to enable councils to benchmark against each other. They can also then consider what costs savings could be achieved through effective joint working.

LACORS is concerned that the duty to implement an Interim Management Order on an unlicensed HMO (where there is no realistic prospect of it being licensed in the near future) is unduly burdensome on councils. LACORS will encourage CLG to review whether the duty to implement IMOs could be replaced by a discretionary power.

Cllr Geoffrey Theobald, chairman of LACORS, said: “These findings bring into focus councils' key achievements in implementing HMO licensing and importantly highlight the aspects of the Housing Act 2004 where further work is required. LACORS will support councils in getting any remaining issues with the new regime ironed out, ultimately improving the housing conditions of vulnerable tenants.

“Poorly managed HMOs pose significant fire and health and safety risks to vulnerable tenants, so it is certainly reassuring that most of the landlords who have already come forward have been given the green light to continue. It’s also good news that such a high proportion of councils are working hard to identify those landlords who are operating illegally. Landlords who are uncertain whether their HMO requires a licence should contact their council without delay.”