By Sheila Mckenzie-
Rogue residential landlords in Liverpool will continue to face tough action, irrespective of the restrictions on court hearings and the ending of the city’s pioneering Landlord Licensing scheme, The Eye Of Media.Com has heard.
All property owners, landlords and managing agents in the city have been legally required by the city council to licence any property since 2015, with exceptions allowed for statutory exemption. About 70% of inspected properties in Liverpool have been found to be in breach of their licence condition since the scheme was launched in 2015.
Serious hazards such as fire, electrical safety and excess cold have been discovered in properties owned by irresponsible landlords in the City and Liverpool council has carried out over 37,000 compliance actions, issued more than 2,500 legal and fixed penalty notices, and prosecuted almost 250 landlords.
A recent decision of the British government to reject the council’s application to continue its work has disappointed councillors. Council bosses expressed disappointment in the British government’s view that their application “did not demonstrate robust evidence to support the existence of low housing demand across the whole city” and has requested more detail on how it reached the decision.
Government approval is generally needed for schemes that cover more than 20% of a council area, and Liverpool wanted to continue with a citywide scheme due to the size and scale of the issue with the private rented sector in the city, which accounts for up to half of housing in some areas and covers 55,000 properties in total. Liverpool Council says it has solely been responsible for 389% of the 460% national rise in prosecutions between 2012 and 2018.
There were 51,764 property licences in force, issued to 10,074 licence holders, and the team conducted more than 34,000 compliance checks of properties and identified 65% as not being fully complaint with licence conditions at first visit.
Over 3,000 of the most serious category 1 and 2 hazards affecting the health, safety and well-being of residents have been uncovered by the Council’s investigations. These ranged from fire safety hazards to significant damp and mould, serious disrepair and excess cold issues.
Over 300 successful prosecutions that led to fines and in one case a custodial sentence for offences including operating unlicensed properties, breaches of licence conditions and failure to comply with legal notices – and more than 2,500 fines were issued.
The scheme has now come to an end but the council insists that all current cases that are with the legal team will continue to be processed and taken to court where necessary. The council is also actively looking at submitting another application to the Government for a substantial landlord licensing scheme.
Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Lynnie Hinnigan,(pictured) said: “Landlord licensing enabled us, for the first time ever, to build a picture of the private rented sector in the city and take action where necessary.
“It is a great shame that the Government turned down our application for another city-wide scheme, but we are committed to continuing to do what we can to protect vulnerable tenants from rogue landlords.
“Where we receive a complaint we will investigate but regrettably, apart from the HMO sector, we will no longer have the capacity to do proactive work in terms of knocking on doors to check conditions. The size of the private rented sector in Liverpool – in some areas 50% of properties – means we can’t afford to be without a landlord licensing scheme.”
From April 1, the council will continue to use its statutory powers provide help and advice for tenants and landlords, focusing on the licensing and inspection of the 3,000 houses of multiple occupation (HMO), as well as investigating complaints and referrals about private sector housing in Liverpool.
All existing licence holders renting out a property with five or more tenants, forming two or more households, require a HMO licence, in line with legislation introduced in 2018”.
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