Decision Maker:

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: No

Date of Decision: October 29, 2025

Purpose:

Content: Council Notes:   The Royal Borough of Greenwich operates a Mandatory Licensing Scheme for all Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO). This means that a landlord must meet the required threshold for maintaining good standards in the management of that property or face fines of up to £30,000.     That under the borough-wide Additional Licensing Scheme brought into force by the Council in 2024, the Royal Borough of Greenwich has increased regulatory commitments beyond the minimum legal requirements (HMO’S that have 5 or more residents must be licensed) to implement robust safeguards that regulate smaller HMOs, where at least 3 residents forming more than one household live must also be licenced and meet the same standards as mandated by law for larger HMOs. That the introduction of the Additional Licensing Scheme is a positive step forward and a helpful measure that has enabled greater local control over the quality and use of HMOs in the Borough and is helping to drive up quality of landlords who operate in the borough.      That under Article 4, all applications to convert a family home into an HMO must apply for planning approval.     That a total of £1,083,500 worth of fines have been issued to HMO landlords that have not licensed their properties. We have recently launched a large-scale project to gather intelligence around potential unlicenced properties and to increase compliance with property licensing requirements.     That the Council has rolled out a Selective Licencing Scheme in five wards in the borough, which require single household properties that are privately rented to also be licenced. That it is the ambition of the Council to expand this scheme further across the borough to ensure that tenants are properly protected from exploitation.     Council Believes:   ·        That the Royal Borough of Greenwich will continue to clamp down on rogue ‘cowboy’ landlords who don’t play by the rules and ensure a fair deal for private renters and responsible high-quality landlords. To achieve this aim, the Council will build upon and expand its robust Private Sector Licensing Scheme to drive up the standards and the professionalisation of landlording within the borough, and ensure safe, quality accommodation is available across this housing sector.     ·        Private rented property licences help improve property conditions, raise management standards, protect tenants’ rights, tackle anti-social behaviour, and ensure that high quality, responsible landlords who play by the rules are the norm, not the exception.     Council Resolves to:   Ensure that the emerging new Local plan will include a policy specific to HMOs and that this will seek to manage the loss of family housing, preventing 3 bed family homes to conversions for HMO.  High concentrations of HMOs result in less cohesive communities and lead to a high turnover of residents and can cause environmental problems due to the temporary nature of the accommodation. Introduce new policy in the emerging Local Plan to deal with areas that are considered to exhibit over concentrations of HMOs, with a focus on wards which are considered to have an over concentration.?    Licencing Framework   This Council will establish legal clarity on the possible extent of Member’s involvement, resident engagement, written submissions of support or objection, or ‘call in’ in the determinations of HMO licences within the legislative framework set out by the Housing Act 2004. As well as establishing the legal criteria for such provision to avoid the council being taken to court by applicants.   Hold a public facing campaign across the borough to increase awareness, both for landlords and tenants, of the Mandatory, Additional, and Selective Licensing Schemes. This will enable tenants and neighbouring residents, who may be negatively affected by the way an HMO is being operated, to use the licensing mechanism as a means of redress and holding landlords accountable.     ·         Invest in new and emerging technologies that will allow the Council to expand the capacity and enforcement capability of its HMO Compliance Team. This will help ensure that all landlords who are required to be licenced are brought within the schemes and increase the number of enforcement actions taken against rogue landlords who fail to comply or keep their property in an unsuitable condition. This increased capacity will help allow the enforcement team to not only pursue and clamp down on rogue landlords who do not meet expected standards but also allow free up capacity to allow the Council to be more responsive to resident and tenant complaints.