A city-wide Additional Licensing scheme is on the cards for Peterborough.
The Labour-led council is launching a public consultation on the proposal which will run until July 31.
The council claims the scheme is “to protect private rented tenants and vulnerable groups from the social and health effects of poorly managed and maintained properties within the private rented sector.”
A spokesperson says: “We are fully committed to working with partners and landlords to improve accommodation standards across the city.
“This ties in with our key priority of creating strong and sustainable communities, which is vitally important for the wellbeing of Peterborough residents.
“Our Selective Licensing initiative has already proved successful and helped enhance standards of homes in the private rented sector.
“We now want to look at introducing a further similar scheme, focussed at improving conditions in HMOs.”
Following consultation, a full report on the findings and outcomes will be presented to the council’s cabinet, which will decide whether to implement the scheme.
The council has had a national Mandatory HMO licensing scheme in place since 2006, however if the new scheme is introduced, it would allow the authority to licence a much wider range of HMOs within its area.
This would include HMOs that are occupied by three or four persons comprising two or more households, which are currently not within the scope of Mandatory HMO licensing.
The council states that Additional Licensing “would also positively promote compliant landlords and make it easier to involve all landlords in wider strategies including crime reduction initiatives, local spatial strategies, and other schemes.”
This article is taken from Landlord Today