News
Licences awarded at event to mark new landlord licensing scheme in Redbridge
Redbridge Council formally launched its selective landlord licensing scheme at an event held at City Gates Church on Thursday 3 August.
Several landlords who had already submitted applications were presented with their property licences at the event.
Landlords of private rented properties, residents and officers heard from Cllr Jas Athwal, Leader of the Council, on how the private rented sector has grown in the borough during the last 10 years and that many vulnerable residents live in privately rented homes.
Cllr Farah Hussain, Cabinet Member for Housing, explained how the council are trying to raise standards through the property licensing scheme.
Cllr Hussain, Cabinet Member for Housing said:
“The Council launched its privately rented property licensing scheme to help improve living standards for residents in the private rented sector. The scheme requires landlords to hold a separate licence for each property they rent out in the Borough, and means landlords will be prosecuted if they fail to adhere to certain licence conditions.“
“We are improving standards in Redbridge’s private rented properties by working with landlords through our property licensing schemes and will use all the powers available to us to bring criminal landlords into compliance.
“A recent prosecution taken by our Housing Standards team resulted in a landlord facing a fine of almost £17,000 for not complying with the law in Redbridge and renting out a dangerous property of poor standards putting tenants lives at risk.
“This case proves the necessity of our commitment to ensuring private tenants in our Borough have safe, quality accommodation. In these types of cases the landlords are not only taking advantage financially but also placing tenants’ lives in danger, and we won’t stand for this.“
The selective licensing scheme currently operates in Valentines and Clementswood wards where it is now compulsory for all private rented homes to be licensed. There is also a borough wide additional licensing covering all Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).
To date 248 additional applications and 741 selective licence applications have been received. When the schemes were announced, the council had estimated they would license 6,000 – 10,000 HMOs plus a further 4,000 applications in the selective licensing area, so many more applications are still outstanding.
The selective licensing fee is £500, with a 50% reduction until Wednesday 13 September.
More information about licensing in Redbridge is available at www.londonpropertylicensing.co.uk/redbridge or by visiting the council’s website.
London Property Licensing offers a licence application handling service to ensure compliance and all for a fixed fee (read here).
For all the latest news and events, you can sign up for the free London Property Licensing newsletter here.
