On 6 May 2022 we reported on a First Tier Tribunal (FTT) case involving an unlicensed HMO in the borough of Haringey in London. The property was a warehouse occupied by "property guardians". The FTT imposed a rent repayment order (RRO) of just over £31,000 and the landlord appealed against this amount.

The council served an improvement notice on the landlord following tenant complaints about living conditions in their rented home. The complaint triggered a visit from the council's Environmental Protection team who found a series of hazards inside the property including excess cold and electrical disrepair.

Andrew Stephenson MP, Under Secretary of State at the Dept' for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has confirmed that Rental Reform remains a priority for the current Government and that "we will want to bring forward the legislation in good time so that it can go through all the stages before the next general election.

After their private sector housing team carried out an inspection of a property in Hawarden (in Deeside) which was occupied by 5 people, the council deemed the property to be an unlicensed HMO. The council inspection also showed that "other housing laws" had been broken.

Who’d be a private landlord today? Certainly it’s obvious that many private rented sector landlords (on the evidence of local press interviews and property portal commentary) feel, shall we say, under-appreciated. But the question can also be asked - could they look at things from a different perspective?

Middlesbrough Council is set to open a public consultation on extending selective licensing in the Newport area of the borough with a projected start date for the new scheme of April 2023 if the Council Executive gives the go ahead after the 10 week consultation period has concluded.

Nottingham Council has announced that it has been awarded Government funds to enable it to enforce energy efficiency regulations saying "this funding will help create a new team who will be making sure that properties are meeting the national minimum energy efficiency standards [MEES] and that no rental property has an EPC (energy performance certificate) below 'E'."

The Dept' for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has announced that changes to the Social Housing Regulation Bill whilst on its journey through the parliamentary process will mean that all social landlords will have to ensure that all staff, from neighbourhood housing officers to senior managers, "have the right skills, experience and knowledge to deliver a high quality service for residents."

“Private renters stuck in dangerous homes ‘failed’ by councils” is certainly a catchy headline and it was followed by the equally eye-catching “Tenants who complain of dangerous or potentially deadly faults in privately rented homes are being let down by councils, a BBC investigation suggests.”

Changes to the former Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme came into force this week. The reforms mean that people facing eviction or repossession proceedings can get free early housing legal advice before going to court.

Ashfield District Council has warned that the deadline for landlords to submit applications for selective licences to operate properties in 2 areas of the district is 25th October.

Following complaints from the public, West Northamptonshire Council's (WNC) Private Rented Sector team used a Housing Warrant in order to visit and inspect a 3 bedroom property and found that it was occupied by 4 people from 4 different households. This made it licensable under the council's additional licensing scheme.

Commenting on current Local Authority cost pressures as well as those coming down the pipeline, Cllr. James Jamieson says that "the dramatic increase in inflation has undermined council's budgets."

The CIH, in its consultation submission on Government plans to extend the Decent Homes Standard to include the private rented sector, has said that the proposal to set up a national property portal to underpin private landlords' compliance.

Ahead of new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Medium Term Fiscal Statement, scheduled to be made public today, the Local Government Association has made a stark case for the sound funding of Local Government service provision.

With very significant public sector financial and thus also capacity constraints in the short to medium term and no let up (thus far) in Government approvals of larger selective licensing schemes, Local Authorities need to box clever to achieve their strategic housing goals in the face of the choppy waters they are currently experiencing.

In July we reported on a case before Canterbury Crown Court that was described by Thanet District Council (the prosecuting Local Authority) as a "landmark prosecution" and which was believed to have been the largest ever prosecution of its type (a number of offences under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977).

Landlords, Agents and Local Authority Housing Options or Housing Enforcement teams need to be aware that a new version of the "How to Rent" guide is expected to be published soon by the Government.

The broadcaster says their investigation into the private rented sector suggests that too many tenants who complain about dangerous disrepair are being let down by their council who will not follow through with enforcement.

Environmental Health officers from Coventry's Property Licensing and Housing Enforcement team investigating a tenant complaint that occupants of a property had been left without gas or electricity discovered that the property was in fact an unlicensed HMO.

Coventry council says that, after an illegal eviction investigation by its housing enforcement team, 2 local landlords have been issued with formal cautions. both landlords were said to have served their tenants with "incorrect paperwork" instructing the tenants to vacate their homes.

Wandsworth Council in London says it is to carry out a review of the feasibility of introducing selective licensing of single household private rented homes and additional licensing of smaller multi occupancy properties in the borough.

Manchester City Council is asking private rented sector landlords and members of the public to give their views on proposals for an expansion of selective licensing of private rented properties in the city.

The tenant rented a 6 bedroom property in Leamington Spa through a letting agent but then rented rooms out to 8 sub tenants (thus becoming their landlord). The situation was discovered when the property was inspected by officers from Warwick District Council - following a complaint from one of the residents - who found serious safety and disrepair issues at the property in February 2022.

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.

Acting on information provided by Thames Valley Police, Slough council housing regulation officers executed a warrant at a suspected unlicensed house in multiple occupation (HMO) in January 2021. Weeks before, the owner of the property had told the council that the property was not rented out and was owner occupied.

Walsall council approved the designation of an additional licensing scheme for smaller HMO properties in October 2021 and the scheme went live on 1st September 2022.

The scheme covers HMO properties in the 4 borough wards of Pleck, Palfrey, Paddocks and St Matthews and the council says landlords with properties in those areas should have applied for their licences by August 31st this year.

The selective licence scheme in Greenwich went live on 1st October so technically, any landlord who has not already applied for a licence is committing an offence but it has been pointed out that the licence application system only went live "just a few days before the scheme started" thus making it difficult for many landlords to apply for licences before the go live date of the scheme.