Decision details

2.1      Cabinet:

(a)       Noted the ‘Consultation Report’ of 3 May 2019 (attached to the report as Appendix A) and the ‘Report on the findings from the Consultation on the Designation of an Additional HMO Licensing Scheme in Northampton’ (attached to the report as Appendix B);

(b)       Agreed that, having considered the ‘Consultation Report’ (Appendix A), the ‘Report on the Findings from the Consultation’ (Appendix B) and the ‘Hazards identified during HMO inspections’ (Appendix C) which show that a significant proportion of the HMOs in the designated area are being managed ineffectively, an Additional HMO Licensing Scheme is required for a period of five years; and

(c)       Agreed to designate, with effect from 1 February 2020 for a period of five years, a selected area of the Borough (identified in the map and list of streets contained in Appendix D of this report) as being subject to Additional HMO Licensing under section 56(1)(a) of the Housing Act 2004 for the following types of HMO:

(i)     Any HMO (irrespective of the number of storeys) that contains three or four occupiers who form two or more households; and

(ii)    All self-contained flats (irrespective of the number of storeys) that are Houses in Multiple Occupation and contain three or four occupiers who form two or more households but, where the HMO is a section 257 House in Multiple Occupation, this Additional HMO licensing designation will only apply to those section 257 HMOs that are mainly or wholly tenanted, including those with resident landlords.