By James Simons And Ashley Young -
Since the houses of multiple occupancy (HMO) licensing scheme was launched in March 2018, Havering Council have issued out penalty notices amounting to £387,250 to landlords operating unlicensed HMO’s where living conditions were found to be inadequate and/or dangerous. The tough actions has ensured compliance with expected standards by other landlords who have kept their properties in respectable condition for their tenants.
The release of the statistics comes as Havering Council announced a landlords’ forum on Wednesday, June 5. It is hosted in partnership with the National Landlords’ Association, and will take place at at the town hall in Main Road, Romford. A small group of people, including two social workers from the council have been privately studying patterns in the kind of people who end up in the property of these types of rogue landlords and compiling data on their findings for research purposes. Social backgrounds and employability of various tenants is also being noted, as well as the type of people these landlords really are.
DIFFERENCES
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Observing differences between them and those who end up with decent landlords from the beginning can be useful in providing an indication of what kind of people end up in what types of situations.
Many of the tenants in these properties are drug addicts and alcoholics, but a few are also decent citizens in stable jobs. Many landlords treat tenants in this group with reckless inconsideration, the addicts too play their role in worsening an already poorly kept accommodation. Nights of self indulging, exploitation and internal conflicts in their midst always worsens the state of the place. The real damage done is to tax payers, whose money is carelessly used in maintaining the well being of a rogue and thoughtless landlord.
The housing law has been evolving lately, with tenants now giving more power and support to force rogue landlords to fulfil their legal obligations. Councils like Havering are taking a good stand against landlords who fail to consider the best interests of their tenants. At a meeting at Romford Town Hall on Wednesday, May 8, the cabinet members voted to roll out the landlord licensing scheme currently being used in 12 Havering wards to the outstanding remaining six wards. They are doing their best to make landlords live up to the statutory standards set for all landlords.
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Private landlords of HMOs are obligated to apply for a licence under the scheme, which was introduced to address poor management of private rented homes, overcrowding and anti-social behaviour.Sources in the Havering area told The Eye Of Media.Com that enforcement officers in the last 12 months have issued 133 Financial Penalty Notices and 23 notices warning landlords to improve standards. Havering’s cabinet member for public protection and safety.
Councillor Viddy Persaud, said the scheme was “successfully rooting out those landlords who think they are above the law and letting them know they cannot get away with it”.
She added: “We won’t tolerate these landlords taking advantage of local families and individuals by renting out overcrowded and poorly maintained HMO properties.”
“Our officers will continue to be proactive to make sure tenants are living safely in private rented accommodation.”
“Landlords of HMOs that breach the regulations should be aware that we will use the strongest possible action against them every time.”
The council is also keen to work with landlords to help them abide by the new regulations, and to get the support they need to do so. Havering Council is holding a landlords’ forum on Wednesday, June 5.
Hosted in partnership with the National Landlords’ Association, the event will run from 7.30pm to 9.30pm at the town hall in Main Road, Romford.
There have been 27 multi-agency enforcement actions and 206 HMO licences have been issued.
ROOTING OUT
Cabinet member for public protection and safety, Councillor Viddy Persaud, said the scheme was “successfully rooting out those landlords who think they are above the law and letting them know they cannot get away with it”.
She added: “We won’t tolerate these landlords taking advantage of local families and individuals by renting out overcrowded and poorly maintained HMO properties.”
“Our officers will continue to be proactive to make sure tenants are living safely in private rented accommodation.”
“Landlords of HMOs that breach the regulations should be aware that we will use the strongest possible action against them every time.”
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