Pre-Warning of upcoming compliance audit for DMBC's Edlington Selective Licence Scheme
We need to advise all members of the Edlington Selective Licence Scheme that Doncaster Council is currently carrying out a compliance audit against selective licence conditions and have asked that Home Safe requests certain information from our members to determine whether the members are compliant with the terms of their licence.
We will be contacting all affected members again in a few weeks to request that the documentation detailed below is emailed to us within 14 days of the request. All the following relate to your licence conditions, for reference please select the following link Licence Conditions. By way of help, the formal request will detail the relevant requirement from your licence condition or other law, as applicable. Where the requirement is asking for information to be sent to the council you must send it to Home Safe in the first instance, so we can confirm compliance to the council on your behalf.
The following will be required from you for each licensed property you are the licence holder for:
1. A valid Gas Certificate (if gas is supplied to the house).
2. Electrical safety certificate (a declaration as to the safety of electrical installations will suffice).
3. A valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
4. Signed ASB agreement (You can access the required document here)
5. Signed Waste agreement. (You can access the required document here)
6. Smoke Alarm Declaration (You can access a template document here)
7. Tenancy Agreement.
8. Pre-let Tenant References.
9. Documented procedure for dealing with repairs including timescales. (this sets out clear instructions to a tenant how they should report maintenance related issues and how you will respond)
10. The inventory undertaken at the commencement of the tenancy.
11. Documents generated in association with the licence holder’s biannual inspections. (this is your 6 monthly inspection requirement and an example document would be the documented inspection)
When requested, please send copies of the documents and declarations by email, using the property address as the subject to compliance@thehomesafescheme.org.uk
Doncaster Council has asked us to communicate that failure to comply with this request is likely to result in a financial penalty being issued for the offence of failing to comply with a selective licensing condition(s). The value of the penalty will be determined by the Council on a case-by-case basis but could be up to £30,000. In some situations, they may choose to deal with the matter in the Magistrates’ Court instead of issuing a financial penalty.
I trust you understand the severity of this matter and the commitment the Council has to enforcing breaches of licensing conditions where it is appropriate to do so. I would also point out the following on Doncaster Council’s website showing their commitment to this matter.
We will be making the formal request for these documents/declarations on or around the 1st of July and we hope that this communication helps you to prepare for that request.