7th
May 2021
Salford council is fully intending to introduce a new landlord license for HMOs housing three or four tenants which is going to cost landlords more than £1,000 per property.
The new licence starts from July 19th covering the whole of Salford for a five-year period.
Landlords will now have to pay a fee of £1,085 for each property that has to be licensed and can be paid by instalments.
The council estimates that in the city there are around 27,000 PRS homes that have been converted into HMOs.
During the last year 90% of three and four bed HMOs that their team had inspected, failed to reach the required standards despite the council providing landlords with specific information highlighting the necessary requirements. The council had also told the landlords that there is an HMO advice service on hand to assist them.
Spokesman Peter Openshaw says: “Our inspections found missing or damaged fire doors, inadequate or blocked escape routes and insufficient measures to prevent fire and smoke spreading. Some properties didn’t have fire alarm systems at all, despite that being a legal requirement, while others had systems but they were damaged, putting tenants at risk.
“Over a third of the properties we checked were damp and/or suffering from mould because of leaky roofs or walls and a third had no or inadequate heating. In some cases we had to move tenants out immediately for their own safety.
“Most of the landlords or managing agents carried out improvements and removed the hazards when alerted to them without formal enforcement action but 21 landlords were issued with civil penalties for breaches of HMO management regulations.
“Private sector rented properties now account for 23 per cent of Salford’s private housing stock, up from 11.2 per cent in 2008 so the homes they provide must be safe, warm and well-run.
“As with previous licensing schemes we want to work with landlords to ensure high quality rented properties in Salford but will not hesitate to take firm action against those who leave tenants in unsafe or poor conditions.”
The council’s housing team will now start a concerted campaign to contact agents and landlords informing them of the new licence and acceptability levels, there is further information uploaded on the council’s website.
When the new licence scheme comes into the force in July, landlords will be given an enforceable three months registration period unless they have already been granted licences for five bedroomed or larger HMOs, or have signed up to a current selective licensing scheme.
Failure to register could lead to councils ordering the landlords to repay rent to the tenants or will take over the management of the properties for an interim period or on a final basis.
To be granted a licence agents and landlords will have to prove/demonstrate they are a ‘fit and proper person’ to let the property and already have in place a work practice of annual safety checks, and their properties must have an adequate numbers of bins.
Landlords failing to licence a relevant property or breaching conditions of the licence, such as overcrowding or not carrying out council orders to remedy the issues, could be issued with civil penalty notices or face prosecution.
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