Agenda item

A proposed enforcement policy for private sector housing was presented. It explained how the environmental health team (operating within the Tandridge / Mole Valley environmental health and licensing partnership) would regulate housing standards. The policy provided an overview of relevant legislation and the range of enforcement powers available. The intention was to raise standards in private sector housing throughout the District in collaboration with landlords, letting agents and tenants.

Section 11 of the policy dealt with civil penalties for offences under the Housing Act and is reproduced at Appendix A. Paragraph 4.1 of the covering report referred to the power to charge for serving notices under the Housing Act and stated that:

        “The Council has the power, under the Housing Act 2004, to make a charge as a means of recovering certain administrative and other expenses incurred in serving certain Housing Act notices. The charge for each notice will be based on time spent by the officer in gaining entry to a property, visiting and inspecting the property to determine appropriate action and the administration costs for the production of a Notice or Order. The charge is determined in accordance with the Fees and Charges Principles … it is proposed that charges are introduced in the next financial year 2022/23.”

In response to Members’ questions, it was confirmed that:

·      The statutory framework of the policy did not extend to addressing Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) the legal powers for which were provided by the ASB Crime & Policing Act 2014. Housing Associations were able to adopt the provisions of that Act although many chose not to do so and, in Tandridge, ASB enforcement was led by the police in partnership with other agencies, including the Council via the Community Safety Partnership. It was also confirmed that officers attend the Tandridge Private Landlords Forum as means of engaging with the private rented sector. 

·      A paragraph could be added to the policy regarding gas safety standards (i.e. in addition to electrical safety standards which had been included to draw attention to recent statutory provisions, namely the ‘Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020’).

·      The term ‘Temporary Exemption Notice’ for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) was a statutory definition which could not be altered in the policy. The environmental health team continued to monitor situations where such notices were served (e.g. where a landlord was taking steps to cease the operation of an HMO and to make the property non-licensable).

·      Within the team, one full time Environmental Health Officer was dedicated to private sector housing standards within Tandridge (such officers are professionally qualified).

·      The proposal to delegate authority to the Executive Head of Communities to make ‘minor amendments’ to the policy would involve incidental updates and would not amount to material changes.

·      While the power to impose civil penalties is intended to make landlords more inclined to fulfill their statutory duties, the imposition of such penalties would be a matter of last resort and the associated income is unlikely to present a meaningful contribution for investment in the service.  

·      If non-compliance with an enforcement notice continued after the payment of a civil penalty, a further enforcement notice could be served (the Council could then choose to prosecute for non-compliance with second or subsequent notice rather than apply a fixed penalty).

·      The policy would be publicised by way of a news release, communicated to the local landlord forum and published on the council’s website    

            R E S O L V E D – that:

A.     subject to the addition of a paragraph regarding gas safety standards, the Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy and the associated policy documents, including the approach to agreeing Civil Penalties (Appendix A refers) be approved and adopted;

B.     authority be delegated to the Executive Head of Communities, in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Housing Committee, to make any minor amendments to the policy that may be necessary when it is reviewed annually; and

C.     the introduction of a charge for the service of Housing Act notices, which has been set in accordance with the current principles for fees and charges, be agreed and adopted.