Landlords in the London borough of Enfield face paying an extra £174 for an additional HMO licence if plans for a renewed scheme get the green light.

The council wants to repeat the scheme, which ends next August, by charging a proposed fee of £1,450, up on the current fee of £1,276. It says evidence shows that a high proportion of HMOs in the borough are being managed ineffectively due to the “cumulative presence of serious housings hazards and/or significant and persistent anti-social behaviour”.

Distributed

A report explains that serious hazards in Enfield’s HMOs are likely to be distributed across the whole borough, with 1,456 HMOs predicted to have at least one. Since the start of the current scheme, the council has seen improvements in the quality and safety of HMOs.

However, there appears to be a huge number of landlords who have failed to pay up; the report adds that the HMO population in Enfield is divided into three main groups: licensed HMOs under the additional and mandatory licensing schemes (1,095) and predicted hidden HMOs (2,835).

Signficant

Councillor Susan Erbil (pictured right), cabinet member for planning and regulatory services, says: “Our existing scheme has seen significant action taken to tackle poor standards in the private rented sector, and we know that many landlords provide well managed properties which do not cause issues for tenants or the wider community, for which we are grateful. However, council officers continue to uncover renters living in unsuitable and often dangerous conditions; some of these are our most vulnerable residents.”

Its last consultation in 2020 produced a largely negative response from landlords, 56% of whom were opposed to additional HMO licensing. It wants landlords’ views again, in a consultation that closes on 7th October.

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