Issue - meetings

The Board considered a report from the Executive Director – Environment and Regeneration which provided a progress update on the Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO) Action Plan which had been endorsed by the Board in February 2023.

It was noted that currently, a HMO does not need a licence if it is occupied by less than 5 people. Therefore, the Council has started to gather intelligence to understand how many HMO’s are in the Borough.

          Meta Street and ORS had been commissioned to undertake some of the actions outlined in the Action Plan and to investigate and assess the following factors across the Borough:

·       Accurate information on the current levels of private rental sector properties and tenure change over time by ward;

·       Accurate information on the  current level of unlicensed smaller HMO’s (3-4 Occupants) by ward;

·       Levels of serious hazards that might amount to a Category 1 hazard or high scoring category 2 hazard (HHSRS) across the private rented sector by ward;

·       Ward level information on housing related stressors, including antisocial behaviour (ASB), crime, deprivation, and population changes including migration linked to the private rented sector in general and houses in multiple occupation specifically; and

·       A detailed survey of properties within the West Bank area to identify the number of private rental properties and the number of smaller and unlicensed HMO’s. The survey should identify tenure, property type e.g. self contained flat, HMO, the number of unrelated occupants who do not form the same household, the number of bedrooms and details of the landlord and letting agent.

RESOLVED: That the Board note the progress against the Action Plan contained in appendix 1 of the report.