Why apply for/introduce additional licensing in Southampton?

The council wants to apply to government for an Additional Licensing Scheme because the evidence available indicates that there are some serious problems with a large proportion of the HMO stock. This includes problems with:

• management of HMOs;
• condition of HMOs; and
• behaviour of tenants in some parts of the city.

The extent of the problems means that the council needs to make sure that action is taken to bring HMOs up to standard. Once this is done it is vital they remain at that standard for the foreseeable years.

The most recent HMO House Condition Survey reported that there are 7,600 HMOs in Southampton, providing accommodation to 31,500 people.

“The key issue in relation to HMOs in Southampton is sheer number of such properties. The 7,600 HMOs represent 8% of the stock, this compares to just 0.4% of the stock at the national level. In fact, Southampton has more HMO properties than 76% of UK local authorities have private sector dwellings in total. With such a large HMO sector, simply maintaining the status quo in terms of condition would require a great deal of monitoring and enforcement. To actually reduce the level of problems would require yet more resources.”

The council believes that additional licensing will be an effective tool in addressing the problems identified with HMOs.

To summarise, Southampton City Council wants to:
• Engage with landlords whose management arrangements are unsatisfactory.
• Establish a baseline of management standards and ensure that is continued for at least the licence period.
• Reduce the risk of fire in HMOs.
• Improve the condition of HMOs relating to available amenities and state of repair.
• Support inexperienced landlords.
• Make landlords more accountable for the behaviour of their tenants.