Selective licensing in Telford 'a last resort' says councillor

Councillor Nicola Lowery, Conservative ward member for the Ironbridge Gorge, has said there is "little evidence" to warrant the introduction of selective licensing in Telford.

Consultation is ongoing on the council’s selective licensing scheme, which is aimed at improving housing standards in privately rented homes and reducing associated problems, such as littering, anti-social behaviour, crime and fly-tipping.

The consultation process was due to start in April but was delayed until after the General Election. If it gets the go-ahead, the scheme would come into effect in November.

Councillor Lowery said: “When considering whether to make a selective licensing designation a local housing authority must first identify the objective or objectives that a designation will help it achieve.  Secondly, it must also consider whether there are any other courses of action available to it that would achieve the same objective or objectives as the proposed scheme without the need for the designation to be made.

“There is little evidence to suggest that anti-social behaviour, migration, low housing demand, are attributed to houses on the private rental sector in Telford & Wrekin and my concern is that this not address the issues we face and risk an increase of rent to tenants within the designated areas.

“The Wrekin Landlord Association have been working very constructively with the local authority and have proposed to adopt a similar approach to the Midlands Landlord accreditation scheme. Their policy is education, engagement and enforcement and much can be learned from the National Landlords Code of Excellence approach to help support both tenants and landlords alike.

“I greatly support the sentiment and aspirations of the scheme. However, more investment needs to be made by the Council in applying its existing powers to ensure that standards of housing in the private sector improve to protect our residents and the most vulnerable in the community. As it is only where there is no practical and beneficial alternative to a designation, should selective licensing be considered”.

Councillor Lowery said other methods like sanctions through the Housing and Planning Act 2016, and recent Government legislation which allows councils to charge penalties up to £30,000 to landlords rather than going through court could be looked at instead of selective licensing.

Telford & Wrekin Council says only parts of Hadley, Leegomery, Malinslee, Hollinswood, Brookside, Sutton Hill and Woodside are proposed to be affected by the licensing, a total of about 2,000 addresses.

Angie Astley, assistant director for neighbourhood and customer services on the council, has urged as many people as possible to take part in the consultation.

She said: "It is only after the results of the consultation have been evaluated that any further decision would be made.”

The consultation started on June 12 and will end on August 21.

Find out more information about the proposal and to complete a survey visit telford.gov.uk/selectivelicensing