Middlesbrough Council is carrying out a public consultation on extending the private rented sector selective licensing scheme currently in place in the Newport area of the borough. The consultation will run until 30th January 2023.

The consultation documents published by the council include a 2020 evaluation, with case studies, of the selective licensing scheme the council previously ran in the North Ormesby area as well as the proposal document for the Newport licensing extension. The case studies, with photographs, support the council's view as to the proven benefits of selective licensing for both tenants and landlords as well as residents in the local community in general.

Selective licensing is currently running in Newport (until 2024) under a designation known as the Newport 1 scheme and the new proposal - Newport 2 - will cover streets in the Newport area that are not currently covered by licensing.

In its proposal document the council says that it has considered other options for driving up housing standards in the area but says that these alternatives are insufficient for the task at hand given background of the private rented sector in Newport.

Of traditional Housing Act 2004 HHSRS housing enforcement it says this activity is almost always reactive and relies on complaints being received by the council before any enforcement activity can be triggered. However, this approach does not "have a concentrated impact in one area" and "does not tackle property management standards".

Of voluntary landlord accreditation the council said "it is resource intensive to encourage the poorer landlords to join accreditation and when asked to make improvements due to its voluntary nature many landlords fail to comply" and that "Accreditation attracts a limited number of landlords, mainly those already providing appropriate management standards and who are motivated to improve the reputation of the private rented sector".

The consultation questionnaire, selective licensing FAQs and the supporting documents for the licensing proposal can be accessed here.

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