Student housing consultation begins

Proposals to extend the range of rental properties requiring a licence have been unveiled and a period of consultation in the city has begun.

Brighton and Hove City Council wants to improve the standard of accommodation and neighbourhood relations in areas with a high density of HMOs, which is typically the locations favoured by students.

Currently the landlords of properties of three or more storeys which have five or more tenants are required to obtain a licence, but this could be extended to two storey properties with three or more tenants.

The areas where this would apply are the wards of Hanover and Elm Grove, Moulsecoomb and Bevendean and St Peters and North Laine, Hollindean & Stanmer and Queen’s Park.

The council has been working with estate agents, landlords and the universities to devise the strategy and a ten week consultation with residents and students has now begun and will conclude at the end of March.

The proposed cost of the licence, which would be valid for five years, is £400, which would then be reduced to £200 when relicensed for a further five year period.

The current HMO scheme was introduced under the Housing Act 2004 and there are currently 800 properties with HMO licences in the city.

Councillor Liz Wakefield, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “Students bring many benefits to the city and there are many excellent landlords in the city. But in areas of high concentrations of HMOs, especially where many students live together, there is a minority of landlords whose management is less than effective and encourages noise and litter nuisance. This additional licensing aims to address these problems while improving tenants’ housing conditions.”

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Posted by Joseph Lewis on February 10, 2012. Filed under Bevendean,Brighton Property News,Council News,Hanover,Hollingdean,Moulsecoomb. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry