Articles

Another chance to have your say on scheme to improve living conditions in Gedling Borough

Date Posted: 11:15 AM on Mon, 25 April 2022

Gedling Borough Council is extending its Selective Licensing consultation, which plans to expand a scheme to make privately rented homes safer for people to live in, and makes it mandatory for landlords to have licences for each of their private rented properties.

Following a successful pilot which started in Netherfield on 1 October 2018, a consultation asking for views to extend the scheme to parts of Colwick, Carlton Hill, Daybrook and Newstead Village was launched. This consultation initially closed in January 2021, but has been extended to run from 25 April 2022 until 23 May 2022. Landlords, residents and stakeholders have another opportunity to comment on the proposals by visiting the consultation page at www.gedling.gov.uk/haveyoursay

All previous comments already submitted have been taken into account and will still be considered when making a decision on the proposal.

The pilot scheme in Netherfield saw over 400 private rented properties inspected by the council’s Environmental Health Officers, and of those, 78% were identified as requiring remedial works to bring them up to the minimum legal standard and protect the health and safety of tenants. 40 properties inspected had imminent hazards around areas such as fire safety and inadequate fire protection or detection, which all required immediate action to protect tenants.

The council will work with landlords and residents to improve properties, but where necessary will use licensing conditions and enforcement powers to bring about improvements.

Selective Licensing can be applied in areas where there is deprivation, high levels of antisocial behaviour, high levels of crime, high levels of migration and poor housing conditions. The licensing will give the council’s Environmental Health team powers to ensure properties are managed effectively and to do more when landlords are not taking steps to deal with issues relating to property standards.

Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke MBE said:

“Creating safer communities for our residents and reducing hardship and inequality is a key priority for the council, and this scheme will help contribute towards that ambition.

We’ve seen the benefits that Selective Licensing has made to residents living in private rented properties in Netherfield, and we want to be able to extend this to other parts of the borough.

Through schemes like this we are able to make real changes for residents and work with landlords to not only make their homes safer, but to improve the standard of living for hundreds, if not thousands of residents.

We want people to get involved with this and give us their views, so we can build on the work we’ve carried out in Netherfield already and fulfil our ethos of serving people, improving lives”