Council's plan to licence all HMOs kicks in with 5,000 homes targeted

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Communities, Local Government

A council's plan to licence all houses in multiple occupation (HMO) kicked in yesterday

Oxford City Council says that from Monday 30 January 2012, every landlord who owns a property in the city where three or more unrelated tenants live and share facilities will be required to get a HMO licence.

The first phase of the roll-out - thought to be the first of its kind in the country - started last year.

The council says it has now issued nearly 1,000 HMO licences.

Landlords who don't come forward and licence their HMOs could be prosecuted and fined up to £20,000, it warns.

It estimates that the entire licensing scheme will cover 5,000 properties in total.

Councillor Joe McManners, board member for housing, said: "We have received a good response from the sector and I am pleased that they have embraced the scheme and co-operated with the council. Over 90 per cent of the applications for HMOs have been received using the online system on our website.

"HMOs have long been recognised as being a particular problem in the city, with many examples of poor quality homes and in some cases being poorly managed.  These damage the reputation of good landlords and we are determined to put this right, and stop those doing the right thing being undercut by cowboys.

"The private rented sector is hugely important to the residents of Oxford, not just in terms of providing much needed accommodation, but also with the impact that it can have on local communities and licensing every HMO will help drive up standards for everyone.

"We now have the hard job of licensing every property in the city and with estimates of up to 5,000 properties this means there will be a lot of work to do.

"Enforcement action is being taken against those landlords and agents who are not complying with the scheme and some of them have been taken to court and fined. Now every HMO in the city needs a licence, there is nowhere left to hide."

There is an annual fee to license an HMO. The council says the fees will be used to pay for the scheme so that it is self-financing and there will be no cost to the taxpayer.  The council adds that it will "not make a profit from the scheme".

The London borough of Newham is looking to license all private landlords.

If approved, the scheme in Newham – where two thirds of the Olympics will take place - would apply to one in three of all the borough’s households.