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Oxford City Council will be the first local authority to introduce a blanket licensing of their Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).The licensing is proposed to come into force on the 25th October 2010.
The scheme to be funded by the licence fee.
The annual fee will be due from each landlord and fines will be levied for landlords that are caught evading the licence.
Will the licence tackle the problems?
This is an interesting development. Firstly, I would support the right of any council to take action locally which are within the regulations.
However, my question for the councillors of Oxford is how will the proposed licensing impact on the perceived problems such as rubbish and anti social behaviour. Landlords can & should manage their property; but do not & cannot control the actions of unruly or anti- social tenants. We could kick them out I guess and then they would be somebody else's problem. The state perhaps could take up the slack ....... but who's going to pay for that.
The House Condition Survey reported that 70% of HMOs in Oxford were unsafe. The question is how many of owner occupied houses would have also been classified unsafe if checked over by health and safety inspectors?
I do think alot of the issues surrounding HMO use is down to the concentration of these properties in certain areas and do support the use of an area based planning policy restricting the number of these types of properties. However, much of the damage has been done & most of this related to the explosion in student numbers without the universities having the funding or inclination to provide dedicated accommodation for the army of new students. Now this isn't a landlords fault but one brought about by poor government planning and provision.
The issue of over provision of education isn't just related to under provision of accommodation resulting in 'studentification ghettos' but also a vast army of over qualified, debt ridden students with a piece of paper that's worth diddly squat.
It looks like EDUCATION EDUCATION isn't always the answer. How about a little more COMMON SENSE COMMON SENSE. Something in short supply over the last decade.
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(Possibly..) Good: However one point that I hit in Scotland (where the law on HMO is different for the whole of Scotland, an eg 3 plumbers from Paisley, unrelated, in a small bungalow is an HMO. )
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You let a place (2 bed house) to a couple. Tenancy says no subletting, no paying guests or other occupants. Couple decide to get in 2 single blokes to help with rent. Landlord finds out, write letters etc etc.. but no change. Landlord now has HMO, didn't want one, LL is in breach of regulations.. My solicitor & me got quite worried when it happened to me..
Cheers!
RE OXFORD CITY COUNCIL - HMO's
In short, the Council is proposing to withdraw the original HMO licensing designation it made in July are now issuing a "BLANKET" Licensing Scheme, albeit phasing it in s,tarting 24 January 2011 - Surely this is against the "amended" published Reglations of Grant Shapps 7 September 2010 where he stated
"Grant Shapps: Sensible approach to manage shared homes Published 7 September 2010
Landlords and councils will no longer be faced with bureaucracy aimed at micro-managing rented housing, Housing Minister Grant Shapps confirmed today.
The Minister laid new regulations that could cut as many as 8,500 planning applications from the system, freeing up councils to focus on local priorities.
Currently landlords have to submit a planning application to rent their properties to unrelated tenants - known as Houses in Multiple Occupation.
Regulations published today will ensure councils only have to use this power where they know high concentrations of shared homes are a problem.
Too many shared homes in one area can cause problems. A high number of short term tenants with little stake in the community can leave an area with an unloved look and feel, which can sometimes create seasonal ghost towns that harm local economies, anti-social behaviour and an increase in crime.
But the Minister said that a blanket requirement to manage these through the planning system is a drain on council resources, and threatens to drive good landlords away from the rental sector because of increased costs and red tape, therefore restricting availability of affordable homes for rent.
Currently up to 8,500 planning applications may be added to the system each year if every landlord looking to turn their property into a shared home is forced to submit an application, regardless of local circumstances.
Housing Minister Grant Shapps said:
"Councils understand their local area best, and they don't need burdensome rules that assume housing issues in every town, village and hamlet are exactly the same. I am also committed to safeguard the supply of rented housing - shared homes are vital for people who want to live and work in towns and cities, and are important to the economy.
"That's why I'm giving councils greater flexibility to manage shared homes in their local area. Where there are local issues with shared homes, councils will have all the tools they need to deal with the problem - but they will avoid getting bogged down in pointless applications, and landlords won't be put off renting shared homes where they are needed."
It would appear that as usual, Oxford CC are a law unto themselves.
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