Lead Authority: Pendle Borough Council

Proposal theme: Housing: Introduce a Landlord Licensing scheme

The proposal is to improve the quality and management of the 18% of properties in Pendle that are private rented (around 7,000 properties).  We are proposing that:
1. A licensing scheme be introduced for all private sector landlords that operate within the Borough of Pendle
2. Landlords who become accredited in the Borough can receive Local Housing Allowance rather than it going to the tenant

Due to the high level of private rented properties across the Borough, the poor condition of much of the stock and the problem of absentee landlords Pendle wish to be able to license all landlords and their properties.  This is in line with the approved Mulit-Area Agreement (MAA) which seeks greater flexibility on the use of Selective Licensing powers.

In the Government response to the Rugg Review it is proposed that there be a register of all private rented property.  The proposal being submitted is to pilot this approach across the Borough of Pendle to form a ‘light touch’ licensing regime.  Landlords would need to register with details of all properties they owned and would receive a registration number which should be used in all business dealings (e.g. tenancy agreements, court procedures).  If the landlord abused the system or failed to comply with the regulatory regime they could be removed from the register and have the management of their properties taken over by the Council or another organisation.

It is proposed that the scheme would be administered by the Council with a fee being charged to cover costs.

The second element of the proposal concerns the Local Housing Allowance (LHA), which is the new way of paying housing benefit.  Since the LHA was introduced there has been an increase in the number of alleged illegal evictions and landlords have expressed concern about the increase in rent arrears from their tenants.   Landlords often now want larger bonds, which is excluding some tenants.  The Council’s Housing Needs Team are finding it more difficult to rehouse vulnerable people as landlords are less willing to take the risk.

The Council operate a landlord accreditation scheme which seeks to improve the standards of management and maintenance of rented properties.  However, we have had problems getting landlords to participate in this voluntary scheme as they do not see any real benefits and there are only 26 accredited landlords in the Borough.  One benefit that could be offered to accredited landlords is for them to receive the LHA directly at the beginning of a tenancy, subject to agreement by the tenant, rather than having to wait for tenants to become 8 weeks in arrears.

The proposal addresses a number of issues.  In the recent Place Survey the overall % of satisfaction with the home as a place to live is 85.7% but only 58.7% of private rented tenants are satisfied.  24% of private rented tenants were either fairly or very dissatisfied with their homes.  This proposal aims to improve satisfaction by improving management and maintenance of private sector properties.

54% of the housing stock in Pendle is pre-1919 which is more than twice the national average and 36.3% of stock is non-decent.  The private rented sector has the highest proportion of pre 1919 dwellings by a significant margin with over 87.1% of all pre-1919 stock.  Category 1 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) are strongly associated with older dwellings occupied by those aged 65 and over, those on a low income, those in receipt of benefit and those with a disability.  Of the properties where Category 1 hazards were found, 20.9% of these were in the private rented sector.  Many vulnerable people live in poor quality private rented property which has an impact on their health and well-being.
The proposal to introduce landlord licensing will provide a database to the local authority of all private rented properties which will help with information dissemination and enforcement.  The incentive for landlords to have the Local Housing Allowance paid to them directly will help to encourage more landlords to become accredited, so raising standards.
The proposal overall seeks to improve the management and maintenance of private rented properties and hence the health and well-being of the occupants.  Poorly maintained properties can also have a negative impact on the wider surrounding areas and cause them to decline.

The proposal for licensing will affect all private sector landlords who operate in the Borough.  The proposals for the LHA to be paid to landlords directly will be a benefit to those landlords who become accredited.  It will also benefit tenants by reducing the potential for them to be evicted due to non-payment of rent and reducing the problems that tenants perceived as high risk have in getting housing.

Pendle Council would able to exercise greater control over the private rented sector which would help them in their enforcement function.  It would also assist the Housing Needs Team in implementing their homelessness function.

To implement this proposal legislation would need to be introduced to allow a borough-wide landlord licensing scheme to be developed and implemented.  The guidance around implementing LHA would need to be revised.