Issue - meetings

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Cabinet considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place), which sought approval of the Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy 2018.

The provision of good quality housing for Coventry residents is a priority for the City Council and the adopted Coventry Local Plan 2016 details how the Council will meet the future house building needs up to 2031.  There is also a need to consider the City’s existing housing stock and, in particular, the quality of homes provided by the Private Rented Sector (PRS).

Over the last two years, the Government has been increasingly active in addressing concerns regarding a number of issues in the PRS over recent years and has introduced a suite of legislation designed to strengthen consumer protection for tenants and tackle rogue landlords.  This included new laws requiring letting and managing agents in England to belong to a redress scheme, providing protections for tenants against retaliatory eviction; and the Housing and Planning Act 2016, which introduced civil penalties, extended rent repayment orders and provided Local Authorities with powers to ban the most serious criminal landlords through the introduction of banning orders.

In order for the Council to use these powers, it must have published a policy setting out how it will implement these powers in relation to properties and the PRS.

The Policy, appended to the report submitted, encompasses all powers available to the Council from a variety of different pieces of legislation and, when adopted, would act as a framework for all future housing enforcement activities.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet:

1.  Approve the draft Policy for Enforcing Standards in Private Sector Housing.

2.  Authorise the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) to implement the policy as detailed in the report and delegate the power to the Head of Planning and Regulation to issue, use, amend, and enforce civil penalties and all other enforcement powers under the Housing Act 2004 (as amended) and the Housing and Planning Act 2016 (and subsequent Regulations and Orders).