selective licensing scheme - council meetingscouncilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/documents/s63395... ·...
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Selective Licensing Scheme Private Sector Housing Agency
Madeline Jeffery – Assistant Director of Housing
Nick Stabeler – Private Sector Housing Agency Manager
Gemma King – Project Manager
Ella McCarthy – Housing Policy and Data Analyst
George Hallam – Projects Coordinator
Karen Kemsley – Data Scientist
Recommendations
• Committee are asked to:
– Comment and note the progress of the work to
develop an application for a borough wide licensing
scheme. This report will be submitted to the Mayor &
Cabinet in April 2019;
– Support the commitment to undertake a public
consultation on the proposals to submit an all borough
licensing scheme.
– Note the £400k upfront budget commitment needed if
an all borough scheme is approved. This will be fully
recovered from the licence fee.
Where are we starting from?
• Manifesto Commitment to Corporate
Priority February 2019
• Current system – Mandatory and Additional
Licensing Scheme
• Other Boroughs
Objectives
Corporate priority to deliver a borough-wide landlord
licencing scheme
• Help tackle the housing crisis
• Improve standards in the private rented sector
• Crack down on rogue landlords
• Improve security, stability and decency for our residents in the PRS
• Help tenants feel safe in their homes through advice, support and
effective enforcement
• Support local landlords during and after the 5 year scheme
• Inspect 100% of all licenced properties over the term of the scheme
Selective licensing: Secretary of State
approval
Selective Licensing of Houses (Additional Conditions) Order
2015 states licensing can be used in areas with high private
sector housing where the area is experiencing one or more
of the following:
• Low demand – not relevant in Lewisham
• High Anti-Social Behaviour
• High migration
• Poor housing conditions
• High levels of deprivation
• High level of crime
Selective licensing: Secretary of State
approval
The application must:
• show how licensing will have an impact on problems within
the PRS
• form part of the council’s housing strategies, including
homelessness, regeneration, ASB and empty homes
• set out the role that the Police and Social Services will play
• consider alternative courses of action that might provide an
effective remedy
Programme milestones
Data analysis
Operational plan
Approval from Mayor and cabinet
Public consultation
Submit to Secretary of State
Secretary of state approval
12 week lead in time
Completion end of March 2019
Drafted; to be finalise by April 2019
April 2019
May – August 2019
February 2020
November 2019
By
May
2020
Support required in
sharing consultation and
encouraging responses
Data analysis
Review of other boroughs with large licensing schemes &
consultation with MHCLG has informed analysis process:
1. Establish up-to-date numbers of PRS properties
- bringing together 35+ datasets
- applying predictive analytics techniques
- validating results through street surveys
2. Investigate relationship of PRS with issues specified
in the guidance
- presenting results to-date of Deprivation, ASB and Crime
Establishing the size of the PRS
Establishing the size of the PRS
Owner Occupier Private Rented Social Rented
63k 31k 34k
49% 24% 26%
Establishing the size of the PRS
Data analysis
• Review of other boroughs with large licensing schemes &
consultation with MHCLG has informed analysis process:
1. Establish up-to-date numbers of PRS properties
- bringing together 35+ datasets and applying predictive
analytics techniques
- validating model through street surveys
2. Investigate relationship of PRS with issues specified
in the guidance
- presenting results to-date of Deprivation, ASB and Crime
Deprivation
A designation can be made if :
• High levels of deprivation compared to region
• High proportion of housing is in the private rented sector
Deprivation factors to consider:
• the employment status of adults,
• the average income of households,
• the health of households,
• the availability and ease of access to education, training and other
services for households,
• housing conditions,
• the physical environment and
• levels of crime.
Indices of Multiple Deprivation
Indices of Multiple Deprivation –
breakdown by Index and Ward
Deprivation and PRS
Anti-social behaviour
• A designation can be made if significant and persistent anti-
social behaviour (ASB) occurring within the immediate vicinity
of a property
• Includes intimidation or harassment, noise, rowdy and
nuisance behaviour, animal and vehicle related nuisance, anti-
social drinking, drug taking or dealing, graffiti and fly posting,
and litter and waste
Anti-social behaviour patterns
Anti-social behaviour persistence
Anti-social behaviour and PRS
Anti-social behaviour and PRS
15% of PR properties
have an ASB incident
recorded within 10 m
28% of PR properties
have an ASB incident
recorded within 25 m
Both %s higher than
other tenures
Multiple incidents also
more likely to
affect PR properties
Crime
• Crime can be considered as a designation reason if there has
been:
– a recent increase in the levels of crime,
– whether the crime rate is higher than other areas or
– if the crime rate is higher than the national average.
• Can only be used if a high proportion of housing in areas with
high levels of crime is in the private rented sector
• Consider the nature of the criminal activity (e.g. theft, burglary,
arson, criminal damage, graffiti)
Crime Patterns
Crime Comparison with National Rate
Crime Comparison with National Rate
Crime and PRS
Conclusions
• Estimated 31k Private Rented properties in Lewisham
• Most Wards comprise 19% or higher Private Rented properties.
Downham is the exception.
• There is high Deprivation across the borough, even when
compared with other London boroughs
• ASB rates are high and persistent in 5 Wards; PR properties
are more likely to have a reported ASB incident in the vicinity
of their property than other tenures, and multiple times
• Crime rates are higher than the national rate for 6 Wards
overall, and all Wards for some crimes.
• Relationships have been established between PRS
and Deprivation, Crime and ASB.
• These results form the basis for the separate designations
within the application
Designations: Initial splits, likely to change
Ward PRS % Deprivation Crime ASBInitial
Designation
Bellingham Y Y Y Y 1
Brockley Y Y Y Y 1
Lewisham Central Y Y Y Y 1
New Cross Y Y Y Y 1
Rushey Green Y Y Y Y 1
Blackheath Y Y Y 2
Catford South Y Y Y 2
Crofton Park Y Y Y 2
Evelyn Y Y Y 2
Forest Hill Y Y Y 2
Grove Park Y Y Y 2
Ladywell Y Y Y 2
Lee Green Y Y Y 2
Perry Vale Y Y Y 2
Sydenham Y Y Y 2
Telegraph Hill Y Y Y 2
Whitefoot Y Y Y 2
Downham Y Y 3
Operationalisation
• Selective Scheme (25,000 properties)
• Extension to Additional Licensing (6,000 Properties)
– To ensure full coverage of the borough for all HMOs
– HMOs are the highest risk premises and require more
robust inspection and enforcement
– Administrative cost is greater and the fee must reflect
this
– A different set of conditions that reflect the nature of
the premises
– Helps stage the implementation of the wider scheme
– Reduces illegal evictions because of occupancy levels
Management – Selective scheme
• We estimate that we will need an additional 56.25 FTE for the borough-
wide scheme (7 of which will be apprentices)
• Further work is being carried to assess the impact of the additional licensing scheme on
staffing requirements and fees
• These numbers will reduce over the 10 year period (5 years licensing
and 5 years administering the remaining licenses);
• The overall cost for a full borough licensing scheme over 10 years is
estimated at £17.3M
Staff Year 1 2-5 6-10Admin 26 7 2Inspector 13 13 7Manager 3 2 0Lawyer 1 1 1Project Manager 1 1 1Project Officer 4 4 0ASB Officer 1 1 0Data analyst 0.25 0 0.25Apprentices 7 7 0
Fees and comparisons
• The licence fee must
be based on the cost
to administer a licence
• Separate enforcement
fee can be charged at
issue of licence
Council Fee
Brent £540
Croydon £750
Ealing £500
Hackney £500
Hammersmith and
Fulham
£500
Havering £550
Newham £750
Redbridge £500
Southwark £500
Tower Hamlets £520
Fees
• We propose to base the fee on the council tax
band for the property
• Projected income over 5 years is £17.5M
BandPercentage of properties
in LewishamProposed Fee
A 6.10% £575.00
B 27.43% £600.00
C 35.25% £625.00
D 21.48% £650.00
E 6.13% £675.00
F 2.34% £700.00
G 1.11% £725.00
H 0.15% £750.00
Costs v Income
• Any excess income will be used to provide ongoing training and
support to landlords
0.00
2,000,000.00
4,000,000.00
6,000,000.00
8,000,000.00
10,000,000.00
12,000,000.00
14,000,000.00
16,000,000.00
18,000,000.00
20,000,000.00
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Income vs Costs
Cumulative costs Cumulative income
Support and input from partners
Secretary of State Referral
• MHCLG – Positive relationship established; they are
keen to guide us to a successful outcome
• To maximise chance of success we will submit
multiple designations:
• One for borough-wide
• One broken down to ward-level to allow partial success if
borough-wide is declined
• Estimated 8-12 week turnaround but our developing
relationship with the MHCLG advisors could shorten
this
• 3 months statutory minimum before we can implement
scheme