Issue - meetings

This report sets out the powers and obligations introduced by the Housing and Planning Act 2016 relating to the Government’s response to tackling rogue landlords and improving the private rental sector.

RESOLVED that:

10.1    The Council shall adopt the new enforcement powers against rogue landlords and letting agents contained within the Housing Act 2004 as amended by the Housing and Planning Act 2016;

10.2    It was noted that the enforcement powers once in force, enable the Council to serve notices imposing Civil Penalties of up to a maximum of £30,000 in respect of the following offences:

·         Failure to comply with an Improvement Notice

·         Failure to licence or be licensed in respect of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)

·         Failure to licence or be licensed in respect of the Landlords Selective Licensing Scheme

·         Failure to comply with licensing conditions

·         Failure to comply with an Overcrowding Notice

·         Failure to comply with a regulation in respect of an HMO

·         Breaching a Banning Order;

10.3    It was noted that the enforcement powers once in force, enable the Council to apply a Rent Repayment Order in respect of the following offences:

·         Failure to comply with an Improvement Notice

·         Failure to comply with a Prohibition Order

·         Breaching  of a Banning Order

·         Using violence to secure entry to a property

·         Illegal eviction or harassment of the occupiers of a property;

10.4    The Housing Enforcement Policy, within Appendix 1 of the report which had been amended to include reference to the issuing of civil penalties as an alternative to prosecution for relevant offences under the Housing Act 2004, be agreed; and

10.5    The Strategic Director of Community Wellbeing be authorized to authorise other council officers, including but not limited to the Head of Private Housing Services (PHS), PHS Managers, PHS Enforcement Officers and PHS Licensing Officers, to discharge the powers listed above. 

Councillor Harbi Farah, Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Reform, introduced the report setting out the powers and obligations introduced by the Housing and Planning Act 2016 relating to the Government’s response to tackling rogue landlords and improving the private rental sector.

Cabinet noted that the Housing and Planning Act 2016 received royal assent on the 12 May 2016. Part two of the Act is concerned with rogue landlords and property agents and introduces:

·         Civil penalties of up to £30,000

·         Extension of Rent Repayment Orders (RROs)

·         Banning orders for the most prolific offenders

·         Database of rogue landlords/property agents

Councillor Farah stated that the most significant and radical of those listed above is the introduction of civil penalties. Unlike fines issued by the Courts when criminal prosecutions are taken, income received from a civil penalty can be retained by the local housing authority; provided that it is used to further the local housing authority’s statutory functions in relation to their enforcement activities covering the private rented sector.  This means that any income received from civil penalties issued can be reinvested into carrying out more enforcement work to bring about further improvements within the private rented sector (PRS).

Councillor Farah stated that Brent’s PRS currently represents over 1/3^rd of the housing stock, somewhere in the region of 36,000 properties and our research indicates that it is still growing. There are more PRS properties in Brent than the combined social housing stock.  The corporate vision is that “Brent will be a thriving, vibrant place, where our diverse community lives in an environment that is safe, sustainable and well maintained”, yet we know that there are still many tenants that are being exploited by rogue and criminal landlords who let out substandard, poorly managed and sometimes dangerous accommodation.

Councillor Farah stated that since the introduction of property licensing in Brent in January 2015, the Private Housing Service (PHS) has made great strides to tackle many of these criminal activities, prosecuting more landlords, agents and lead tenants in the past eighteen months than the previous eighteen years added together, but despite this there is still much more to do.  By agreeing to adopt these new enforcement powers, the Cabinet will be arming PHS with additional tools to combat those criminals who flout the law and more importantly the income generated by the fines will be reinvested to provide additional resources to see further improvements with the PRS with increased enforcement activities. 

RESOLVED that:

10.1    The Council shall adopt the new enforcement powers against rogue landlords and letting agents contained within the Housing Act 2004 as amended by the Housing and Planning Act 2016;

10.2    It was noted that the enforcement powers once in force, enable the Council to serve notices imposing Civil Penalties of up to a maximum of £30,000 in respect of the following offences:

·         Failure to comply with an Improvement Notice

·         Failure to licence or be licensed in respect of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)

·         Failure to licence or be licensed in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10