News
Property licensing consultation underway in Newham
Newham Council have launched a public consultation on plans to implement new additional and selective licensing schemes when the current schemes end in late 2022 / early 2023.
The council wants to hear from tenants, landlords and local businesses about how the borough’s licensing scheme has affected them.
Licensing of more than 40,000 property has been a crucial tool for the council to ensure that privately rented homes in Newham are safe, secure and well managed.
The current licensing scheme began in 2018, following Newham’s decision in 2013 to become the first UK local authority to apply licensing requirements to every private rental home in the borough.
Councillor Shaban Mohammed, Newham’s Cabinet Lead for Housing, said:
“We want to hear from everyone in the borough who has a stake in safe, secure, and well-managed private rented homes.
“We want to keep delivering for you tenants and landlords by regulating the sector in a way that helps everyone to thrive, so it’s vital that you have your say on how our licensing is working for you.
“Democracy starts from the ground-up so I want to encourage everyone to take part. This is your Council and your borough, we work for you.“
Since 2013, Newham’s property licensing scheme has aided the recovery of £2.5 million in unpaid Council Taxes from landlords and ordered £350,000 in rent repayment from unlicensed landlords, all of which has helped improve housing services for our most vulnerable residents.
Licensing has helped the council to step up enforcement activity. This has included:
- 1,100 prosecutions
- 384 civil financial penalty notices
- 2,549 legal notices relating to property standards
- 450 joint operations with police, fire brigade, or HMRC to tackle illegal activities
According to the council, the benefits of licensing go beyond enforcement by helping both renters and landlords to understand their duties and rights. Since 2018, the council has dealt with more than 95,000 requests and contacts from landlords or tenants and carried out 15,300 inspections and audits.
The public consultation opened on 9 November 2021 and continues until 26 January 2022. Residents, businesses, stakeholders or interested parties can find out more and take part in the consultation via the council’s website.
Our free guide containing more information about property licensing and HMO planning rules in the London Borough of Newham, is available here.
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