6th
Jan 2016
A victory was handed to Redbridge private landlords when Greg Clark, the Secretary of State for Department of Communities and Local Government, turned down the council’s request to introduce a blanket licensing scheme.
The council intended to charge every landlord a licence fee for their individual properties which are rented out within the borough. Their request for permission to introduce the scheme came after consulting more than 1,700 people through many surveys which included 463 lettings and landlords.
The council felt it had a cast iron case when the request included results from a door to door survey which was carried out with more than 500 tenants and residents; it claimed that 86% of those who took part were in favour of the scheme.
The Secretary of State for the DCLG, Greg Clark turned the scheme down because the council could not sufficiently prove that by introducing such a scheme, it would decrease levels of anti social behaviour.
Redbridge council is now considering a cut down version of the scheme which they feel will stand a better chance of being given the go-ahead.
The authority will be introducing the Additional Licensing Scheme for all HMOs in the borough which has been approved, which will be rolled out in the summer.
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