Consultation on licensing private rented property in Southend

As part of their housing strategies, local councils can choose to require private landlords or their managing agents to have a licence to rent out their property, should no other courses of action be available to meet the licence schemes objectives.

The licence conditions state that landlords must keep their property safe and well maintained as well as deal with any problems associated with the property such as dumped rubbish, untidy gardens or anti-social behaviour. Southend-on-Sea Borough Council believes that introducing a selective licensing scheme for privately rented properties in a defined area of the borough will ensure:

• improve housing conditions for those in the private sector
• reduce significant and persistent problems caused by anti-social behaviour (ASB)
• reduce levels of property related crime
• increase the proportion of good landlords and an elimination of rogue landlords
• develop an improved private rented offer providing higher quality rented accommodation which would result in improved neighbourhoods.

Before making any decision, the Borough commissioned M·E·L Research to gather the views of local people, in particular local landlords, private tenants, agents, residents, businesses and organisations inside Southend and beyond. The consultation ran for 10 weeks, between 2 November 2020 and 11 January 2021. A variety of consultation methods were used to allow interested parties to share their views on the proposals, including allowances due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Update

Please see the Public Notice for Selective Licensing - Designation areas in in accordance with section 83 of the Housing Act 2004 (“the Act”) that Southend Borough Council ("the Council") in exercise of its powers under section 80 of the Housing Act 2004. Which includes Streets in Milton, Kursaal, Victoria and Chalkwell where Selective Licensing applies.

In total, the consultation generated 1,792 responses to the survey (1,208 postal and 584 online). One neighbouring local authority fed in to an online survey: Rochford District Council. 65 people had registered onto the three public meetings. Eight stakeholders, representing a good range of interests, were interviewed. Finally, 22 individuals or organisations responded with formal written submissions to the consultation. Together, these represent a wide range of interests and views covered during the consultation.

We are currently considering the introduction of a Selective Licensing scheme within parts of the borough with known anti-social behaviour (ASB), poor property conditions, high crime levels and deprivation. Please see full results of the consultation and responses in the Supporting Documents Area to the right of the page.

To read about how the Council handles your data please visit our privacy notice: Southend-on-Sea Borough Council Privacy Notice.

Or read M·E·L Research's privacy notice: melresearch.co.uk/privacypolicy.

For questions about the consultation survey, please contact M·E·L Research at southendprs@melresearch.co.uk