Landlords in Brighton & Hove with small HMOs will have to pay £1,051 from today for an additional licence.

An enlarged scheme will cover 2,200 properties after the previous five-year city-wide additional scheme - which covered about 1,900 HMOs - ended last year. The council says it resulted in improvements made to management, building and safety standards that benefitted about 5,500 tenants.

However, it believes management, standards and quality of private rented homes are still not consistent in the city’s expanding PRS, where more than a third of households in the city rent.

The city will see also see a new selective licensing scheme in September, which kicks off in Kemptown, Moulsecoomb & Bevendean, Queens Park and Whitehawk & Marina, and will eventually cover 17 of its 23 wards, costing landlords £670.

Selective

Brighton & Hove will seek Secretary of State approval for a second stage of the selective scheme, six months after the launch to cover a further 9,500 properties in Brunswick & Adelaide, Central Hove, Goldsmid, Hanover & Elm Grove, Hollingdean & Fiveways, Preston Park, Regency, Rottingdean & West Saltdean, Round Hill, South Portslade, West Hill & North Laine, Westbourne & Poets Corner and Wish.

Consultations on both schemes received broad agreement from residents but opposition from landlords and agents who argued that more licensing could lead to fewer rental properties.

Councillor Gill Williams (pictured), chair of the housing & new homes committee, insists the schemes will improve HMOs, support the authority’s work to prevent homelessness through reducing abrupt end of tenancies through early intervention and dialogue and will also benefit landlords by allowing the council to help them improve and maintain their properties.