A consultation is underway to see whether local people want Sefton Council’s housing licensing schemes for privately rented properties extended for a further five-years.
Since March 2018, Sefton Council has had a Selective Licensing scheme for private landlords in the Bootle area. There is also another licensing scheme which is called ‘Additional (HMO) Licensing which is only for houses of multiple occupancy (rented to at least three people, who are not part of the same family) for privately rented property situated in parts of Seaforth, Waterloo, Brighton-Le-Sands and central Southport.
With the current schemes due to end on 28th February 2023, Sefton Council is now carrying out a 12-week consultation on its proposal to extend them until February 2028. Information about the proposals and a link to the consultation can be found at www.sefton.gov.uk/licensing-consultation
Councillor Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said: “Introducing the current licencing schemes has enabled Sefton Council to work with private landlords in the areas covered to improve their standards of management.
“This, in turn, has resulted in improved living conditions for their tenants as well as improvements for the wider areas, such as reduced anti-social behaviour. By extending the scheme for a further five years, we want to build on this success and bring about further benefits for landlords, tenants and those communities.”
Since the introduction of the Scheme in March 2018, serious health and safety hazards have been removed from over 300 licensed properties. These include issues relating to fire safety, electrical hazards, damp & mould and excess cold.
Although nearly 60 per cent of the properties inspected did not initially meet the required housing standards, 98 per cent of these were subsequently improved. 81 private landlords have received Civil Penalty Fines for failing to licence their properties.
Councillor Hardy added: “Our view is that by renewing these schemes we can deliver benefits for tenants, landlords and the neighbourhoods they cover and the costs for landlords would start from just £2.67 per week.”
Patrick Mooney, Editor