Published: Thursday, 3 December 2020

Oxford residents now have four more weeks to have their say on proposals to improve conditions in private rented housing in the city after the consultation period was extended until 31 December.

There have been more than 1,000 responses so far and the consultation has been extended by a period equivalent to the recent lockdown to ensure that as many people as possible have an opportunity to comment on proposals that could affect half of the homes in Oxford.

In September, Oxford City Council launched a public consultation on two schemes to license the private rented sector. The council wants residents to give their views on its intention to:

Oxford’s private rented sector has grown from a fifth (20.8%) to half (49.3%) of homes in the city since 2001 – one of the highest proportions in England. In January the council set out far-reaching plans to protect tenants, drive up standards and crack down on rogue landlords and this consultation on licensing is a necessary step in helping to deliver these.

The consultation has now been extended until 31 December and residents can find more information and take part on the Property licensing consultation webpage.

People can respond online or by email or, if they are unable to do so, by writing to the council or by asking the council for a hard copy of the consultation questionnaire. If they require assistance with their response, they may be able to obtain assistance from an advice centre.

HMO licensing

HMOs are homes rented out to three or more people who are not from the same family and who share facilities. All HMO landlords in Oxford must get a licence that ensures an HMO meets safety and management standards, they are a ‘fit and proper person’ and that they comply with council waste disposal and storage requirements.

In 2011 Oxford was the first council in England to introduce a citywide scheme that required every HMO to be licensed. The current scheme is due to expire in January 2021. Consultation is required as a condition of renewing the scheme for another five years.

Since the start of the current licensing scheme in January 2015, the council has processed 12,236 licences in relation to 3,850 HMOs. The council works with landlords and agents to improve compliance with the scheme yet less than half (49%) of HMOs are fully compliant.

The council has taken a stepped approach to enforcing non-compliance with HMO licensing and this can range from higher renewal fees for minor breaches to financial penalties for repeated or major breaches.

In the last five years there have been 2,460 investigations into unlicensed HMOs. These have resulted in 25 financial penalties being served for operating an unlicensed HMO and 22 penalties for non-compliance with the scheme or related legislation. The council also took over management of three unlicensed HMOs.

Selective licensing

Selective licensing would allow the council to extend existing licensing powers to cover all privately rented homes in Oxford and ensure a level playing field for all private tenants and landlords.

Government rules allow councils to introduce selective licensing if a fifth of homes in an area are privately rented. All wards in Oxford have more than 20% of housing in the private rented sector, with concentrations in the centre and south east of the city.

If agreed, a self-financing scheme for selective licensing could be put in place for five years in late 2021 or early 2022. This would need to be approved by central government.

Oxford’s private rented sector

The council commissioned Metastreet to undertake a review of housing conditions that used a range of data and modelling techniques to pinpoint housing tenure and predict property conditions. This estimated that a fifth (6,200) of the 30,500 homes in Oxford’s private rented sector have a serious housing hazard.

In the last five years the council has received 3,360 complaints from private renters about 2,990 properties – around 1 in 10 of all privately rented homes. During this time the council has served 2,451 housing and public health notices and carried out 4,058 investigations into anti-social behaviour related to private rented housing.

The consultation process

The consultation process has been extended from 12 to 16 weeks and is being carried out independently by Opinion Research Services (ORS) on behalf of the council. ORS is seeking the views of all stakeholders – including landlords, agents, industry associations, residents and resident’s groups, private tenants, third sector organisations, advice agencies, registered housing providers, councillors, businesses and neighbouring councils.

Comment

"We want as many people as possible to have their say on our proposals so we have extended the consultation process by a further four weeks. The private rented sector is incredibly important to Oxford.

“Every private tenant deserves a decent home. As well as renewing our additional HMO licensing scheme, we want to bring in licensing across the whole sector so that every private rented home will need a licence. This will help us to deliver on our plans to protect tenants, drive up standards and crack down on rogue landlords.

“We estimate that a fifth of privately rented homes in Oxford have a serious housing hazard, and tenants also face challenges around energy efficiency and fuel poverty. We’re aiming to change that.

“We also believe that licensing all privately rented homes will benefit landlords themselves. Tenants will have the confidence that they are good and responsible landlords as rogue operators are driven out of the market.

“These consultations are a necessary step in the process of driving up standards in private rented homes. Consultation runs until 31 December and we’d like as many people as possible to tell us what they think about our plans.”

Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery

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