Landlords Will Need Licence to Rent in Five Ealing Wards

Ealing Council to introduce charges in bid to improve standards

Significant changes are to be introduced to the private rental market in Ealing with five wards specifically targeted.

From next year, landlords will have to buy a licence to legally rent out a property with more than one household living in it.

A HMO is a house or flat occupied by more than one household (not related or living as a couple) who rent the property and share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. At the moment only certain larger HMOs in Ealing are covered by the existing mandatory licensing scheme.

The new additional licensing scheme will apply to all HMOs that are two storeys or more and occupied by four or more people but not covered by the mandatory scheme.

Ealing Council has also announced that ALL privately rented homes i.e. every self-contained flat or house in Acton Central, East Acton, South Acton, Southall Green and Southall Broadway will have to be licensed - the council believes this will deliver the most benefits to the community in these particular wards.

To obtain a licence for five years, landlords or managing agents will be required to pay a licence fee for each rented property in the designated schemes. The additional licensing fee is £1,100 for each HMO plus £30 for each habitable room and the selective licensing fee (for the five wards) is £500.

Ealing is one of the largest boroughs in London with more than 137,000 residential properties. Of these, around 36,000 are rented from private landlords. Census figures for 2011 showed that private renting increased by nearly 70% over ten years from 2001.

Under the new proposals a licensed landlord will also have to comply with several conditions relating to the management and condition of the property, including gas, electrical, fire safety and other facilities provided. A written tenancy agreement would be required and anti-social behaviour by tenants would not be permitted.

Councillor Ranjit Dheer, cabinet member for community services and safety, said: “The introduction of the additional and selective licensing schemes in Ealing will significantly reduce the number of complaints associated with private rented properties while allowing us to better protect the health, safety and welfare of tenants.

“Underlying our plans to expand our licensing schemes is the serious issue of poorly managed properties which lead to sub-standard living conditions and anti-social behaviour. By providing clear standards under which landlords will operate and tenants will know what to expect, we want to encourage stable, long-term tenancies that will then go on to create sustainable communities.

“All our residents deserve decent, safe homes to live in, and we are determined to drive up standards in the borough’s private rented sector. The new licensing schemes will give us the opportunity to achieve this and robustly tackle unscrupulous landlords.”

The licence term will be up to five years and the schemes will be reviewed annually.

The new additional and selective licensing schemes will both come into force for a five year period from 1 January 2017.

Failure to obtain a licence may result in prosecution and an unlimited fine.

26th July 2016