{"id":92999,"date":"2018-06-20T08:58:37","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T08:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=6560bf00d59bafbf03772df76ab9be2a"},"modified":"2018-06-20T08:58:37","modified_gmt":"2018-06-20T08:58:37","slug":"press-release-government-publishes-key-licensing-changes-to-further-protect-tenants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=92999","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Government publishes key licensing changes to further protect tenants"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New guidance for landlords to further protect tenants from poor living conditions has been published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government today (20 June 2018).<\/p>\n

Following legislation introduced last month, from 1 October 2018 any landlord who lets a property to 5 or more people \u2013 from 2 or more separate households \u2013 must be licensed by their local housing authority.<\/p>\n

The move, affecting around 160,000 houses in multiple occupation (HMOs<\/abbr>), will mean councils can take further action to crack down on the small minority of landlords renting out sub-standard and overcrowded homes.<\/p>\n

New rules will also come into force setting minimum size requirements for bedrooms in HMOs<\/abbr> to prevent overcrowding. Landlords will also be required to adhere to council refuse schemes, to reduce problems with rubbish.<\/p>\n

The guidance document<\/a> includes further details on extending mandatory licensing to smaller HMOs<\/abbr> and introducing minimum bedroom sizes as government continues to rebalance the relationship between tenants and landlords.<\/p>\n

Housing Minister Heather Wheeler MP said:<\/p>\n

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Everyone deserves a decent and safe place to live.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s new guidance for landlords will further protect private renters against bad and overcrowded conditions and poor management practice.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Selective licensing<\/h3>\n

Government is also today announcing a review to look at how selective licensing is used and find out how well it is working.<\/p>\n

In areas where selective licensing applies, landlords must apply for a licence if they want to rent out a property. This means the council can check whether they are a \u201cfit or proper person\u201d to be a landlord, as well as making other stipulations concerning management of the property and appropriate safety measures.<\/p>\n

The review will see independent commissioners gather evidence from local authorities and bodies representing landlords, tenants and housing professionals.<\/p>\n

The review\u2019s findings will be reported in spring 2019. There will be an update on progress in autumn this year.<\/p>\n

Further information<\/h2>\n

Selective licensing allows local housing authorities to make it compulsory for all private rented accommodation in a specified area to have a licence.<\/p>\n

The schemes are intended to deliver improved standards and safety in the private rented sector for areas suffering serious problems.<\/p>\n

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Office address and general enquiries<\/h3>\n
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\n2 Marsham Street
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\nLondon<\/span>
\nSW1P 4DF<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

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\n Contact form<\/span>
\n http:\/\/forms.communiti…<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\n General enquiries: please use this number if you are a member of the public<\/span>
\n 030 3444 0000\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Media enquiries<\/h3>\n
\n
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\n Email<\/span>
\n newsdesk@communities.gsi.gov.uk<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\n Please use this number if you are a journalist wishing to speak to Press Office<\/span>
\n 0303 444 1209\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Social media – MHCLG<\/h3>\n
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Twitter – https:\/\/twitter.com\/mhclg<\/a>
Flickr – http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mhclg<\/a>
LinkedIn – http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/mhclg<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New guidance for landlords to further protect tenants from poor living conditions has been published.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92999"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92999\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}