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Welcome!
Welcome to the new-look Landlords Newsletter. This newsletter contains information and news for landlords, agents and tenants in the private rented sector. You are receiving this newsletter because you have either requested to be subscribed in the past or you're named as an HMO licence holder, manager or applicant. To unsubscribe, please use the link at the end of the newsletter.
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Appeal for houses for refugees |
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Mel Mutch, the Empty Property Officer, and Alan Chandler, the Vulnerable Person Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) officer, are appealling to owners of empty dwellings and landlords to consider offering housing to refugees. Due to conflicts in their respective countries, there are now over 80 million displaced people across the globe. Our government has committed to support some of those families who need our help to rebuild their lives after enduring significant trauma, losing their livelihoods and their homes.
If you are able to help, we are ideally looking for larger, self-contained private rented accommodation within Oxford city boundary, with rent as near as possible to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate for sustainability reasons.
If you are interested in discussing the potential to offer a home to a refugee family we would be pleased to hear from you. You can contact Alan Chandler via email refugeehousing@oxford.gov.uk
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‘Tis the Season… for Damp & Mould
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Now that the weather has turned we will start to see an increase in complaints relating to damp and mould in properties. This is one of the 29 hazards we assess under the Housing Act 2004 and it can result in enforcement action being taken against landlords if poor conditions are found.
In the English Housing Survey 2019/20 almost a quarter of all households reported experiencing damp and mould issues in their home. Below are some simple things to consider to be proactive in managing this hazard:
- Ensure your property has adequate provision for the tenant to properly heat and ventilate the home and that these are in good working order (roof and wall insulation, controllable heating, mechanical extract ventilation, background ventilation i.e. window trickle vents or air bricks etc.).
- Consider providing an information pack to your tenants with relevant information on heating and ventilating your property including; how the thermostat works, how to optimise the ventilation provision and other useful tips on reducing condensation build up, some of which are provided at the link below.
- Ensure regular maintenance checks are carried out at your property including gutter clearance, extraction cleaning and boiler service.
- Further information can be found on our website https://www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20271/guidance_for_private_tenants/1129/preventing_damp_and_mould
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It is a legal requirement for all rented dwellings to have a valid Energy Performance Certificate. Since April 2020 the Domestic Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations require private rented properties to have achieve a minimum rating of E. Recommendations for improvements to areas identified as Poor or Very Poor should be considered. Your property may be eligible for a grant to cover the cost or partial cost of these upgrades, more information can be found here https://www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/pages/funding-opportunities-for-landlords
Damp & Mould not only affects the health and happiness of your tenants, but it can deteriorate the condition of your property, potentially impact its value and even lead to compensation claims against you. A proactive approach can help to avoid future financial loss.
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Oxford City Council work with the National Energy Foundation (NEF), who provide the Better Housing, Better Health service. This service helps low-income residents in Oxford make energy saving changes to improve the warmth and wellbeing of their home and reduce their carbon emissions.
One of the grants available is the Green Homes Grant - Local Authority Delivery (GHG LAD). If your own or a tenant’s household income is below £30,000, the NEF can help you access the Grant funding to make energy efficiency improvements and provide end to end customer support. NEF work with accredited suppliers to make energy efficiency improvements to your home, such as loft insulation or cavity wall insulation. This may be fully or partially funded by the Green Homes Grant. Delivery must be completed by March 2022 for Phase 2 of the GHG LAD.
More information about available funding including GHG LAD can be found on the Better Housing, Better Health website or by emailing greenhomesgrant@nef.org.uk
https://nef.org.uk/project/better-housing-better-health/
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We’re fast approaching the busiest time of year for our waste collection crews. Don’t forget that we’ll be suspending our garden waste, bulky waste and bin delivery services from Tuesday 21st December – Wednesday 5th January.
There’s also going to be some changes to collection days over the Christmas period too. Check out the picture below to see how you’ll be affected:
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From Wednesday 5th January until Friday 28th January 2022, we’ll also be offering free real, bare Christmas tree collections. Just pop the tree out on your regular garden waste collection day, and make sure it’s free of any adornments or decorations. You can also take your real trees to one of our local collection points, which will be announced on our website soon!
If you want to find out more about your recycling and waste collections, check out our website at www.oxford.gov.uk/recycling. Did you know that we also offer free leaflets, stickers and recycling advice to all landlords and tenants? If you need to talk to someone about your waste collection service, you can email recyclingandwaste@odsgroup.co.uk or call 01865 249811.
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The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 (the regulations) require every electrical installation in private rented residential premises to be inspected and tested at regular intervals by a qualified person. This requirement applied to all new tenancies from 1st July 2020; and all existing specified tenancies from 1st April 2021.
The regulations define regular intervals as no more than every 5 years and no more than the next inspection date specified by the previous qualified person. Any remedial works required by the report must be carried out within 28 days- or sooner if the report specifies a shorter timeframe. The landlord must obtain confirmation in writing that the works have been completed or further work/investigation is required.
Landlords are required under the regulations to supply a copy of the electrical report to each existing tenant of the residential premises within 28 days of the inspection. Landlords are also required to supply a copy of the report to the local housing authority within 7 days of receiving a request in writing for it from that authority.
Where a local housing authority has reasonable grounds to believe that a private landlord is in breach of one or more of the duties under regulations, the authority must serve a remedial notice on the private landlord. The remedial notice requires the private landlord to take that action within 28 days beginning with the day on which the notice is served.
The landlord is required to comply with the remedial notice but will not be considered to be in breach of their duties if they can show that they have taken all reasonable steps to comply with the Regulations or have been refused access to the property. The authority can also arrange for remedial works if satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that a private landlord on whom it has served a remedial notice is in breach the regulations.
The authority may also impose a financial penalty of up to £30,000 if it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the landlord has breached their duty under the regulations. Further financial penalties can be issued for continuing breaches. Recipients can appeals penalties issued under the regulations via First-tier Tribunal.
Oxford City Council is in the process of updating our current Civil Penalties Protocol for enforcement of the regulations and implementation of penalties.
A Government Guide is available for landlords: Electrical safety standards in the private rented sector.
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All HMOs with five or more people require an HMO licence under the England-wide mandatory HMO licence rules.
In Oxford, all other HMOs require a licence as the Council’s Additional Licensing scheme re-started on 10 June 2021.
Due to Coronavirus, we were unable to consult in early 2020 which meant a gap between the Additional Licensing schemes. Only landlords whose HMOs fell under additional licensing and expired between 24 January 2021 and 09 June 2021 needed to reapply. We wrote to 635 affected landlords to explain this and request new applications. We received 582 applications (91.7% of expected applications) and have issued 538 licences. We expect to issue the remaining licences by the end of November.
For HMO licences that expire on or after 10 June 2021, renewal applications are required as normal, regardless of whether under the mandatory or Additional Licensing requirements.
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The Council sends HMO licence renewal reminders about 2 months before the expiry date. There is no legal obligation on the council to send a renewal reminder.
A valid renewal application must be made before the licence expires as stated in the Housing Act 2004 and associated regulations. A valid renewal application consists of:
- A completed application form
- Signed declaration
- Stage one fee payment
If you wish to apply for a two or five year licence, then it is your responsibility to:
- Make a valid application
- Send in the two / five year checklist
- Send all required safety certificates
- Complete the above steps at least two weeks before the expiry date
We do not send reminders to explain some documentation is missing.
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The Council has a responsibility to check HMOs periodically to make sure the property is free from significant hazards under the Housing Act 2004 Health and Safety Rating system and needs to demonstrate that the HMO licence scheme meets its objectives, HMOs are well managed and HMOs meet required standards.
Landlords and agents are responsible for the ongoing maintenance and management of their properties. We aim to conduct routine inspections once every five years. For accredited agents we will take an “audit based” approach.
Some of the most common issues found on routine inspection are listed below.
Bedrooms below 6.51m2 Legal requirement
The government has introduced new absolute minimum sizes for bedrooms in Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) as of the 1st October 2018. This requirement is set out in the Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018. Below are the minimum sizes:
- 4.64m2 for a child under 10 years old
- 6.51m2 for one person over 10 years old
- 10.22m2 for two people over 10 years old
The Council has always used 6.5m2 as the minimum bedroom size, however prior to 1st October 2018 would use discretion where the room was just under this size and there was adequate communal space. We are no longer permitted to use discretion.
Landlords must be proactive and measure rooms to ensure the room sizes are met. If the rooms are found to be too small then landlords need to take action to either make the room larger or to leave the room vacant.
Lack of Fire doors and Smoke detection in High Risk HMOs
Properties that are let on individual contracts with shared kitchen facilities are a higher risk situation as there will be little or no communal living between tenants. National guidance is clear that these properties require additional fire precautions, as reflected in the Councils’ Amenity and Facility guide:
- All doors including kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms must be 30-minute fire doors with heat seals, smoke seals and self-closer (preferably overhead)
- 1 to 2 story properties must have- Grade D LD2 fire alarm system with smoke detectors in escape route and bedroom living rooms and heat alarm in kitchen (interlinked)
- 3 or more story properties must have- Grade A LD2 fire alarm system with smoke detectors in escape routes, bedrooms, living rooms at all levels and heat alarm in kitchen (interlinked)
Landlords who let on separate tenancies need to take action to ensure fire precautions are appropriate. There is a legal requirement to have a Fire Risk Assessment and it would be expected that tenancy type is considered.
Lack of proactive management
Landlords are expected to pro-actively manage their properties and conduct routine inspections to identify problems and arrange repairs. Our inspections have found common problems, that should be easily spotted and repaired, including:
- the condition of windows within the HMO for example defective timbers, fixings and misting/condensation within double glazing.
- lack of / poor ventilation- Bathrooms and shower rooms must have mechanical ventilation to the outside air at a minimum extraction rate of 15 litres/second in addition to any window(s).
- poor guttering- vegetation preventing the flow or causing potential slips from overflowing guttering.
We encourage landlords and agents to use our property checklist for routine inspections.
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The Council is currently working on the submission for a city-wide Selective Licensing scheme to be submitted to the Ministry for Housing, Community and Local Government. This is following the designation by the Council earlier in the year. |
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The Mobile Homes (Requirement for Manager of Site to be Fit and Proper Person) (England) Regulations 2020 (“the Regulations”) introduce a fit and proper person test for site owners or the person appointed to manage the site. The purpose of the fit and proper person test is to improve the standards of park home site management.
The applicant wishing to be included on the register will have to show that there are suitable financial and management arrangements in place for the site and to provide information relating to their conduct in relation to any of the following:
- Offences relating to fraud, dishonesty, violence, arson or drugs or listed in schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
- Contraventions of law in relation to: housing, caravan sites, mobile homes, public health, planning or environmental health or landlord and tenant law.
- Contraventions of law in relation to the Equality Act 2010, or in connection with the carrying out of any business.
- Harassment of any person in connection with the carrying out of any business.
- Insolvency within the last 10 years.
- Disqualification from acting as a company director within the last 10 years.
- Has the right to work in the UK
An application must be made by a site owner, if they hold, or have applied for, a site licence for the site. Only park home sites, which operate on a commercial basis, where plots/pitches are sold or rented to residents. Park Home sites which are only occupied by the site owner or members of the site owner’s family do not need to apply.
More information and the register is available on our mobile home licensing webpages.
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www.oxford.gov.uk
01865 249811
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