The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has called for more flexible and longer licensing schemes in its evidence to MPs scrutinising the Renters’ Rights Bill.

Housing advisory panel member, Henry Dawson, told the committee that proposals around the PRS database and ombudsman would add an enforcement burden on local authorities and highlighted the need to remove unnecessary barriers to licensing schemes.

He suggested allowing councils operating selective licensing schemes to use licence conditions to improve housing standards, increasing the maximum duration from five to ten years and removing the requirement for authorities setting up schemes to ensure that the PRS forms a high proportion of properties in the area.

"Half of the posts for local authority enforcement teams in environmental health were going unfilled for more than six months. "

Dawson told MPs that only about half of these schemes could cover the full costs of managing enforcement, and that short periods of funding made it hard for local authorities to manage staffing, training and recruitment. Half of the posts for local authority enforcement teams in environmental health were going unfilled for more than six months.

Fundamental issues

“Staffing is probably one of the most fundamental issues to the effectiveness of the interventions being proposed under this bill,” Dawson added.

“At the moment the predominantly hand-to-mouth existence local authorities have had for quite a long time now has been pretty much predicated on the fact that we are actually relying on the council taxpayer to fund the enforcement of the private rented sector…compared to building control or planning who are able to levy up from fees.”

He explained that 90% of local authorities’ work was carried out through informal advice-giving, with people ringing up and asking for guidance. Setting up a new PRS database could provide a single point of information to refer people to, which would relieve much of the burden on officers while landlords wouldn’t be relying on chat forums and other informal information sources to address problems.