Agenda item

8.1

The Committee considered the decision of the Cabinet Member for Housing, made on 23^rd February 2017:-

(i)        to approve the revised Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Licensing Standards as set out in Appendix A of the report, to come into effect on 6^th April 2017; and

(ii)       to authorise the Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods Service to approve amendments to the Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Licensing Standards.

8.2

Signatories

The Lead Signatory to the call-in was Councillor Richard Shaw, and the other signatories were Councillors Adam Hanrahan, Penny Baker, Andrew Sangar and Steve Ayris.

8.3

Reasons for the Call-in

The signatories had confirmed that they wished to further scrutinize the decision to determine whether it was clear enough for tenants and landlords and robust enough to be enforced and that there were sufficient Council resources to do so.

8.4

Attendees

·           Councillor Jayne Dunn (Cabinet Member for Housing)

·           Janet Sharpe (Director of Housing and Neighbourhood Services)

·           Maxine Stavrianakos (Head of Neighbourhood Intervention and Tenant Support)

·           Angela Greenwood (Locality Manager - Cohesion)

8.5

Councillor Richard Shaw, addressing the Committee as Lead Signatory, explained that the purpose of the call-in was to ensure that standards were robust, that the consultation with interested parties had been adequate, that resources to implement were adequate and to clarify some technical issues. 

8.6

In response, Councillor Jayne Dunn directed the Committee to the ‘Reasons for Decision’ set out in the Individual Cabinet Member Decision Record and explained that the purpose was to champion improving standards and address issues such as rogue landlords and shared accommodation.  She added that arrangements could be made for any Member to have a briefing session with officers, as the technical aspects were much more within their remit.  In conclusion, she indicated that the aim was to have some of the best accommodation and landlords and squeeze out any bad landlords.

8.7

Maxine Stavrianakos repeated the offer of briefings to Members and explained that there were 1,800 premises presently licensed as HMOs, but that the law was changing so that another 1,000 properties would be included.  The last standards were approved in 2004/5, and a review of these in 2009 revealed aspects which required improvement, including issues on room sharing for asylum seekers.  Whilst there was no statutory responsibility to carry out consultation, this had been done with landlords, the Universities, the Fire and Rescue Service, G4S and asylum seekers.  The feedback from this consultation had resulted in these standards, which actually contained fairly minor changes apart from provisions on shared rooms.

8.8

The two landlords’ representatives present confirmed that they understood and were happy with the standards and that it would be possible to implement them.

8.9

Questions from Members of the Committee

Members, including the Lead Signatory to the call-in, made various comments and asked a number of questions, to which responses were provided as follows:-

·                The insulation standards had been made advisory rather than compulsory as a result of the consultation, as it was felt that these should not be prescriptive if they didn’t need to be.

·                Feedback from wider groups, such as Tenants’ and Residents’ Associations, community meetings and the Sheffield Safer and Sustainable Communities Partnership, had been taken into consideration in developing the standards, as had the comments of the private rented sector.

·                There was no legal obligation to provide a Carbon Monoxide Detector, apart from where the property contained a wood burning stove.  However, these standards required any property with a gas or solid fuel fire, boiler or gas oven/hob to have one, which was above the Government standard.  There was also a requirement for these to be checked every 12 months.

·                Accommodation for asylum seekers was managed by G4S and, following concerns raised by the South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group (SYMAAG), the standards proposed that all single persons sharing rooms would have to agree to this in writing.  This would apply to all new asylum seekers and discussions were taking place with G4S with regard to those who were already in such accommodation.  If a written permission was not signed, then it would not be expected that they would be housed in shared accommodation.  The provision of accommodation for asylum seekers was monitored by the Home Office and SYMAAG, and Council officers worked closely with the Home Office in this regard.  It should be noted that the Chinese community showed a preference for sharing accommodation and the Private Rented Sector team were working with that community in this connection.

·                With regard to the approval of amendments to the standards, most changes would be minor and briefing sessions would be held for Members if any major changes were proposed.

·                The Council was a leader in the country on best practice with regard to rogue landlords and legislation.

·                In connection with Estate Agents taking upfront deposits from students, the Council operated a Deposit Support Scheme and was generally looking to raise tenants’ rights awareness.  Different legislation operated for Estate Agents and was regulated by the Government.  It should also be noted that Sheffield was the only City to have a SNUG scheme, which was a property inspection standard approved by the Council and both Universities in the City and involved inspections with landlords.

8.10

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       notes the contents of the report together with the comments made and the responses provided;

(b)       notes the decision of the Cabinet Member for Housing, taken on 23^rd February 2017,

(i)        to approve the revised Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Licensing Standards as set out in Appendix A of the report, to come into effect on 6^th April 2017; and

(ii)       to authorise the Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods Service to approve amendments to the HMO Licensing Standards; and

(c)        recommends that no action be taken in relation to the called-in decision.

(NOTE: Prior to the passing of the above resolution, an alternative motion, moved by Councillor Richard Shaw and seconded by Councillor Roger Davison, namely to ‘refer the decision back to the Cabinet Member for Housing for reconsideration in the light of recommendations from the Committee’, was put to the vote and negatived.)