Story: Rohan Francis
Landlords in the Selective Licensing area of Page Hall attended a series of Council meetings in February and March to discuss the conditions of the scheme, which begins on 22nd April.
At the February meeting, held inside Firth Park Clock Tower, around 25 landlords met to hear a presentation by officers from the Council's Private Housing Standards team on the details of the ‘Standards and Conditions’ document. About 200 landlords will now have to comply with these conditions in order to continue renting in the area.
The document lists the conditions required in private rented properties including the provision of safe and efficient appliances, home security, fire safety, kitchen and bathroom facilities, waste and rubbish disposal, energy efficiency and overcrowding.
Landlords were unhappy that some conditions would mean upgrading their properties beyond the levels required by current law. For example, the Council will demand all private rented properties in the Selective Licensing area are improved to achieve an energy performance certificate of Band D. This is significantly more demanding – and with a much tighter timescale, than the current EU target, which asks that landlords' houses reach the lower Band E level by 2018. One landlord said, “There is a huge cost to meeting Band D, which could be thousands of pounds. Why not set the standard at Band E and help landlords reach D by 2018?”
Local resident and landlord, Ahsan Ashraf of Firvale Community Action Team, explained, “Whilst we all agree that property standards set out in law should be adhered to, what causes friction is where landlords are asked to satisfy Council conditions that are not part of the general law of the land.” Similar concerns were raised about requirements for landlords to provide kitchen appliances with A-rated or higher energy efficiency, which landlords explained would mean either buying all new machinery or, more likely, would see the reduction of ‘furnished’ properties in Page Hall, making life more difficult for families on low incomes.
At the follow up meeting on March 22nd at the Vestry Hall, the issue of overcrowding rules were again a cause for concern. Housing officers pointed out that existing tenants would be treated differently to new ones, with existing tenants allowed to have more people in a property. Landlords were concerned about how they would establish exactly how many tenants were living in a property especially when family situations often change, and how these conditions might lead to discrimination against tenants with growing families. Officers said they would look carefully at what was expected of landlords in order to meet the overcrowding conditions.
The Private Housing Standards team encouraged landlords to get in touch if they had any questions on 0114 273 4680 or email: selectivelicensing@sheffield.gov.uk