Ealing council has been given approval by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to designate a new selective licensing scheme which will commence on 3rd January 2023 across 12 wards of the borough.

The council had already started a smaller scheme across 3 wards as well as a borough wide additional licensing scheme (for smaller HMOs) which both commenced on 1st April 2022. The 3 wards in the smaller selective licensing scheme were said in the report to the council's cabinet to contain some of the worst private rented sector (PRS) properties in the borough, generated the highest proportion of PRS complaints and saw the highest levels of category 1 hazards (under the housing health and safety rating system or, HHSRS).

The proposals for this latest and larger scheme were agreed by the council's Cabinet in June this year and, because of the size of the designation needed Secretary of State approval. The council's view is that this "Phase 2" of their selective licensing plans is "vitally important to ensure that improvements in the safety of properties could be made across all wards where there was evidence of poor property conditions and serious housing hazards."

Cllr. Shital Manro, cabinet member for good growth, said "this is our largest and most ambitious property licensing scheme to date and it demonstrates our continued commitment to landlords while taking a strong approach to tackling poor property conditions."

Information on the scheme, applying for a licence, licence fees and exempt properties can be accessed here.