Decision details

To determine whether to designate part of Bath as an area subject to additional licensing for specified types of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs)

(1) To AGREE that Appendix 5 (Legal Advice) constitutes exempt information according to the categories set out in the Local government Act 1972 (amended Schedule 12A) because it contains information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings, and therefore that the public interest is best served by exemption of the information;

(2) To INTRODUCE an additional licensing scheme, as detailed within the designation report, for a period of 5 years commencing on the 1st January 2014 with licence applications being accepted from 1st October 2013;

(3) To ADOPT the fee structure, as set out in the report, for both the additional licensing and the mandatory licensing schemes; and

(4) To ASK the Head of Housing to undertake the appropriate and statutory steps to enable the introduction of the proposed additional licensing scheme.

Working in partnership with other interested parties, the introduction of a targeted additional licencing scheme will provide the Council with the ability to identify and address housing condition and management issues within the designated areas.  The scheme will provide a platform to engage with landlords, tenants and local residents to work in partnership to mitigate some of the negative effects associated with such high concentrations of HMOs within this densely populated residential area.

A range of other options were considered in detail  and include:

•  Do nothing - given the information contained in the evidence report this is not an option.

•  Targeted enforcement activity – not realistic having regard to scale of the issue

•  Reactive enforcement – would not ensure that issues in all HMOs with shared facilities are addressed

•  Partnership working – already being actively pursued however experience from the voluntary accreditation scheme and other examples of partnership working has confirmed that this fails to provide full engagement with all landlords.

•  Selective licensing  - eligibility criteria not met and evidence points to most of the issues being associated with HMOs and not the wider private rented sector

•  Additional licensing across the whole district – not supported by the current evidence