Landlord fee shelved as councillor brands move a ‘cop-out’
CHARGE WAS AIMING TO DRIVE UP STANDARDS OF HOMES
A MOVE to charge landlords a £945 fee per property in poverty-stricken parts of Teesside has been shelved.
Leaders at Stockton Council looked at introducing the charge for properties in central Stockton and part of the Victoria Estate, in Thornaby, last year to clamp down on rogue landlords and drive up standards.
But council leaders have dropped the idea for now - in favour of a private landlord-led scheme.
This “collaborative” model will be led by “PLuSS” (Private Landlords Supporting Stockton) whose members own and manage more than two-thirds of the private housing on the two estates.
The council says it will allow landlords to share knowledge with “less experienced” property owners, create a “self-funding” tenant referencing scheme and encourage its members to take up training through “peer pressure”.
Under the scheme, PLuSS members with homes in the two areas will have to sign a “code of conduct”.
Meanwhile, council teams will carry out “random” inspections at properties, bring in extra staff and “take immediate enforcement action” against non-member landlords who flout the rules.
Moves to charge landlords £945 per property for a five-year licence were drawn up by Stockton Council last year - with the promise of hefty fines for those who failed to sign up.
A consultation was launched and PLuSS responded asking the authority to consider a different model.
After Thursday’s cabinet meeting, council leader Cllr Bob Cook said the authority was facing a judicial review from landlords if it pushed on with the selective licensing scheme.
He added: “We will review this in six months to see if it is working.
“If it’s not, we will revert to the full selective licensing model because we’ve had a consultation.
“What we didn’t want to do is be tied up in a judicial review process for a couple of years - we’re trying what they asked and we’ve listened to them.
“Any landlords that break the law in those areas will be prosecuted as they have in the past - they will go straight to court to be dealt with.”
Selective licensing schemes have been introduced in North Ormesby and parts of the Newport ward with private landlords required to obtain a licence from the council.
A report prepared for Thursday’s cabinet meeting promised a “robust approach” to landlords who didn’t sign up to the collaborative scheme - and those who failed to maintain properties properly.
But Cllr Steve Walmsley, Thornaby Independent Association (TIA) member for Mandale and Victoria, was unimpressed - branding the move “corporate cowardice”.
He said: “They’ve let the poachers turn gamekeepers.
“We get this same kind of thing in the planning committee when they say we have to approve applications or they’ll appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.
“Let them go to judicial review - if it costs the taxpayer money it’s being done for the right reasons.
“We’ve got people and tenants being tortured by rogue landlords and this is an absolute cop-out.”
If the collaborative approach doesn’t work, the council says it will explore selecting licensing again in future.