Issue - meetings

Members heard from the Housing and Enforcement Manager who presented a report regarding the proposed options and approaches for future work within the Private Rented Sector. The Committee was reminded that in July 2022 they had made a number of recommendations to enable the Council to review its approach to improving the Private Rented Sector (PRS). As a result, a small working group of Councillors was set up to consider this subject and oversee the delivery of workshops to Councillors, aimed at identifying the priorities for the PRS and the approaches that would be preferred to address these. The working group was made up of five Councillors and the commitment and contribution of the working group was noted as key to ensuring that this piece of work developed and evolved over the period of time since July 2022. They also played a key role in reviewing and amending the format of the Councillor workshops which were held in December.

The Housing and Enforcement Manager summarised the options that had been considered, and the rationale for the working group recommending option D, that being, to choose to revisit Selective Licensing at a future date with new data and new proposals. It was recognised that a combination of approaches might be needed in order to deal with the scale of the challenge faced by the Council and Members were asked to focus on their decision in relation to Selective Licensing and from this, consider the approach that they might wish to take for any other activities. It was highlighted that the pros and cons of the various approaches could be seen within the workshop slides that had been distributed to all Councillors, and could also be found at appendix 2 of the report.

The Chairman thanked the Officer and also the Members of the working group. He recognised the importance of PRS throughout the district and highlighted the value of the focus of work on this area.

Vice Chairman Councillor T. Coulson, as Chairman of the Working Group, reiterated thanks and also informed Members that the email referenced earlier in the meeting during Declarations of Interest had been responded to. She highlighted that the working group had spent considerable time discussing the situation and processes, with the focus now to agree a way forward. She recognised that proactive engagement with landlords would be key, and, in voicing her support for the recommendations as printed in the report, moved the paper.

A Member of the Committee voiced his concerns regarding the money that had been spent on the previous consultation for Selective Licensing and questioned the sense behind repeating that process, stating his belief that the scheme had not previously worked to address wider issues such as poor quality housing, energy inefficiency and levels of anti-social behaviour (ASB). He highlighted the need to address those areas of concern, which he did not feel would be achieved through Selective Licensing. He commented that, whilst ASB should be a problem for the Police to address,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61