Housing Standards Civil Penalty Policy & HMO Licence Conditions Review

1.         that the
Housing Standards Civil Penalty Policy as set out in Appendix 1 of
the submitted report be approved;

2.         that the
amended House In Multiple Occupation (HMO) Licence Conditions as
set out in Appendix 2 to 4 of the submitted report be approved;
and

3.         that
delegated authority be given to the Director of Adults and
Community Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for
Adult and Community Services, Public Health and Inequalities, to
make further updates to the Housing Standards Civil Penalty Policy
and House In Multiple Occupation Licence Conditions following Royal
Ascent of the Renters Rights Bill.

The adoption of the
amended Housing Standards Civil Penalty Policy would ensure that
the Council were compliant with current legislative developments to
ensure that when landlords breach legislation to the degree that
action was justified, the Council were able to apply the
appropriate sanctions.  In addition the
adoption of the amended HMO licence conditions ensured that the
Council were able to apply the relevant conditions without the need
to clarify poorly drafted legislation making it easier for HMO
licensee’s to understand the requirements and making any
review more efficient.

The options were:

Option 1 – Adopt
both policies and delegate authority to make
adjustments following forthcoming legislation.  The updated policies would ensure that the Council
was legislatively compliant, able to action requirements
efficiently and effectively, able to direct landlords and licensees
to clear and understandable requirements.  By delegating authority, it would enable updates
of any new requirements promptly.  This
was the preferred option.

Option 2 –
Refuse to adopt the new Housing Standards Civil Penalty Policy.
 The way the current policy was drafted
was not in line with the most recent case law.  Whilst this would not impact the Council’s
ability to seek action at the First-tier Tribunal, it undermines
the Council’s ability to set the fine levels resulting in the
possibility of escalation to the Upper tribunal and the associated
resources for Torbay Council and landlords.

Option 3 –
Refuse to adopt the HMO licence condition amendments.  There would be no fundamental problem other than
inefficiency in managing the HMO licensing and a missed opportunity
to provide a clearer set of conditions for licensees to follow.

This decision will
come into force and may be implemented on 28 July 2025 unless the
call-in procedure is triggered (as set out in the Standing Orders
in relation to Overview and Scrutiny).

Following the
commencement of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, Torbay Council
adopted a Housing Standards Civil Penalty Policy.  The Policy deliberately mirrored the Statutory
guidance and was tested at First-tier Tribunal (FtT).  In 2023 an appeal
(Leicester vs Morjariato) to the
FtT resulted in a decision that was a
catalyst for Housing Standards Civil Penalty policies to be
reviewed

Following the case,
government set aside a small fund for a 3^rd sector
organisation to organise procurement of legal support to update
policy, including Housing Standards Civil Penalty Policies whilst
keeping abreast of the policy demands of the Renters Rights Bill
(RRB).

Torbay Council
accessed these funds early and received £5,000 for policy
drafting support, legal support and training.  The outcome was confirmation that a number of Torbay Council Housing Standards
Policies were suitable, with drafting of a new Housing Standards
Civil Penalty Policy and a review of the House-in-Multiple
Occupation licence conditions being required.

At the meeting
Councillor Tranter proposed and
Councillor Bye seconded a motion that was agreed unanimously by the
Cabinet, as set out above.

Councillor Bye
declared a non-pecuniary interest as a landlord who owns properties
within Torbay.