Agenda item

(i)            Joint Report of the Director of Transformation and Partnerships and the 

            Corporate Director of Regeneration and Local Services.

(ii)          Presentation by the Housing Manager, Regeneration and Local Services.

The Chairman asked the Housing Manager, Shirley Janes to give a presentation on Private Sector Housing(for copy see file of minutes) and noted the Head of Direct Services, Oliver Sherratt, the Head of Environment, Health and Consumer Protection, Joanne Waller and the Head of Policy and Communications, Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner (PCVC), Jon Carling were also in attendance to provide additional information.

The Housing Manager, Shirley Janes gave a comprehensive presentation which included information in relation to: the Housing Solutions Teams; statistics relating to the private rented sector in Durham; advice and information; empty homes; selective licensing; challenges for the Authority and private landlords; and a forward plan of areas to be addressed.

The Head of Direct Services noted a multi-agency approach was undertaken in terms of issues with either homes or commercial properties and added he could come back to the Committee to explain this in more detail.  He noted several types of issues, including: anti-social behaviour (ASB); arson; drug taking; and dangerous buildings, for example a faulty gas supply at a property.  He added that the departments and agencies involved did note frustrations in some cases, and in taking stock of the time and expenditure in relation to such properties it was noted that there were a significant number of call outs from a Fire perspective alone. 

The Head of Direct Services explained that there was therefore a multi-agency interest in being able to deal with issues faster and it was not always to use the “biggest stick” available, often better intelligence and information sharing was important, both internally and with partners.  He noted that Section 29 of the Data Protection Act allowed the sharing of information where this would prevent a crime or was in the interests of safety.  He noted the Empty Homes Team was the reception for information and added that a second step was to use the knowledge in terms of preventions to help, for example visits to property owners by the Fire Service or Police helping to highlight the need for a landlord to take action can lead to early wins with good coordination.  The Head of Direct Services noted that in cases of health and safety and community risk, partners such as the Fire Service and Police, alongside Environmental Health, would look to trigger actions as appropriate, looking to reclaim funds where the Authority has had to take action, where the landlord has not responded to attempts to contact them by the Authority.  He reiterated that it was not one tool for all situations, rather use of all the tools at the Authority’s and Partners’ disposal in conjunction.

The Head of Policy and Communications, Office of the PCVC noted that the PCVC and the Chief Constable were keen to address such issues and reduce crime and ASB.  He added it was known that these could occur in clusters in areas with a number of empty homes, such as at Horden and that in terms of a strategic, operational and financial level, it was very important that information is shared appropriately.  He added there was a need to better “talk up” the many success stories and that also the PCVC was keen to put pressure on Government and he was working with Phil Wilson MP in terms of a 10 Minute Bill in relation to mandatory registration for private landlords.

The Head of Environment, Health and Consumer Protection noted there were a number of key stakeholders and that there were a number of joint working protocols in place, both practical and strategic which helped to prevent duplication of work and help utilise resources more efficiently and effectively.  She added there was a limited amount of funds and a limited number of powers, however, there were approaches such as using boards that looked like actual windows and doors when securing a property that could help.  The Head of Environment, Health and Consumer Protection reiterated that a problem solving approach was taken and that Officers could share information in terms of how this worked in partnership, together with success stories, at a future meeting.

The Chairman thanked the Officers and asked Members for their comments and questions.

Councillor R Crute noted the 3 areas regarding selective licensing, and the information from the Head of Policy and Communications, and asked how they were monitored.  He noted that there were mixed messages as regards this and that Members needed to know the benefits, disbenefits and costs in order to look at selective licensing against accreditation.

Councillor R Ormerod noted that new legislation was positive; however, what were the implications in terms of our accreditation scheme.  The Housing Manager, Shirley Janes noted that the majority within the scheme were “better” landlords and therefore a database may not help as rogue landlords tended to “fly under the radar”.

Councillor A Patterson noted she looked forward to the Tenant Scheme pilot and asked what was done to encourage landlords to stay within the accreditation scheme, given a 45% retention, and whether Banning Orders could be a risk to the Local Authority and the budget.  The Housing Manager, Shirley Janes noted that Banning Orders were not yet in effect and that issues were being looked at in advance of them coming into effect later in the year.  She added that in terms of retention, feedback was taken and there were 6 monthly reviews, however, a lot of the smaller landlords were choosing not to renew membership and this would be looked at.

Councillor E Adam noted that if landlords were not renewing accreditation, were they at least taking on advice and best practice.  He added that it is the rogue landlords that needed to be tackled, was the Authority getting value from the scheme and asked are we targeting resources accordingly, for example in tacking those rogue landlords.  The Housing Manager, Shirley Janes noted there were teams in terms of Accreditation and in terms of “rogue” landlords.  She added that it was important to keep those accredited “on board” to be able to help in terms of future housing need.  It was noted that a graded system of accreditation, whereby a landlord is accredited, but does not have access to all the services, could be an approach, for example where those inheriting property, “accidental landlords” could received some advice and basic documentation.  The Housing Manager, Shirley Janes noted there was an action plan as regards accreditation and this could be circulated to the Committee.

Councillor E Adam noted in cases of ASB there were links with relevant partners and noted excellent work in his area with the Police with properties not being allowed to reopen for 6 months being a particularly strong tactic.  The Housing Manager, Shirley Janes noted that Officers were delivering training to the Police in terms of the Closure Order process and she reminded Members that not all landlords are at fault and there was support for them as appropriate.  The Chairman noted that publicity of the work and actions available would be of benefit.

Councillor J Clare noted he appreciated the proactive and integrated approach taken by the Head of Direct Services and his teams, however, noted that in some cases the process needed to be speeded up, with an example in his areas where a yard had not been cleared.  The Head of Direct Services noted that under existing powers the normal timescale for such a clearance was around 3-4 weeks and therefore in this case there would have been other circumstances.

Councillor J Clare noted that in terms of the accreditation scheme, a number of private landlords had explained that there were other national schemes they could join, and they could get the information and advice from those schemes.  He added that the Authority needed to be aware of the pressure on landlords, including the likely impact in terms of Universal Credit.  Councillor J Clare noted that there was so much that seemed to penalise good landlord in the process of chasing the bad landlords.  He added that the 10 Minute Motion as mentioned seemed to avoid this issue and that he felt the DKO scheme was very good.  Councillor J Clare asked as regards the Time Limited Projects (TLPs) for each agency and did they overlap.  The Chairman noted that the TLPs involved all the relevant agencies.  The Housing Manager, Shirley Janes and the Head of Direct Services noted the approach was that of multi-agency problem solving. Councillor J Clare suggested that it was important that the County Council improved its communications to let the public know what it was doing in terms of these TLPs.

Councillor R Manchester asked as regards those landlords that were part of the Accreditation Scheme being able to access financial assistance and whether this could be used as an incentive to attract more landlords to the scheme.  The Housing Manager, Shirley Janes noted that this was one of the issues highlighted when promoting the scheme, for example, at specific landlord events.  

Councillor J Atkinson noted in terms of the numbers of empty properties, was there a point at which the Authority could not do any more.  The Housing Manager, Shirley Janes noted that not all empty properties would be seen as “empties” and that it was only some that became an issue.  It was added that all cases were looked at as appropriate and cited a recently brought back into use property, previously empty for 16 years.

Councillor P Howell noted that in terms of accreditation, there were a number of associations that landlords could apply to and join and therefore could it be better if the Authority dealt with one of those schemes rather than its own, though to focus on serious issues, not “nitpicking” for example in terms of stipulating door colours.  He also agreed with the issue raised by other Members in terms of focusing on rogue landlords.  The Housing Manager, Shirley Janes noted she would feed these comments back.

Councillor P Jopling noted that multiagency approaches were taken to tackle rogue landlords, looking at all options open to the Authority and Partners and asked was there the possibility of compulsory purchase.  The Head of Environment, Health and Consumer Protection noted there was a range of powers, from early intervention, to disrepair, through to compulsory purchase.  She added there was an escalation strategy, together with the tools, such as enforced sales where there was a debt to the Authority.  It was added that if a landlord did not do the requisite repair works to a property, a charge could be placed on the property, and in cases where the works are required to be undertaken by the Authority then an enforced sale could be appropriate.  The Head of Environment, Health and Consumer Protection noted that powers to manage a property were used as a last resort.

Councillor M Davinson noted that the pilot accreditation scheme had been undertaken in his area, with landlords having been asked what they wanted from such a scheme.  He noted that the pilot was free, and that the scheme in place had a cost.  He noted that over time there has been more and more positives added to the scheme and this was good.  He concluded by noting his experience of selective licensing was that the issues moved out of those areas to other non-licensed areas nearby. 

Resolved:       

(i)            That the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee note the report and presentation.

(ii)          That the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee continues to monitor the progress of the various initiative undertaken with the private rented sector including the Landlord Accreditation Scheme with a further progress report scheduled in the work programme for 2019/20.

(iii)         That a presentation is provided to the Economy and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny committee as part of the 2018/19 work programme providing an overview of the Tackling Empty Properties’ Initiative.