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Consultation - Houses in Multiple Occupation

The Royal Borough of Kingston carried out an initial period of consultation between November 2011 and March 2012 in respect to its proposal to introduce an Additional HMO Licensing Scheme in the Borough. The Council has listened to the views of local landlords, tenants, stakeholders and residents, and has subsequently set out criteria to which an Additional HMO Licensing Scheme would be subject.

The formal proposal on which we are now consulting is to have a borough wide Additional HMO Licensing Scheme based on the criteria '5+ people or 3+ storeys', i.e.:

1. All Houses in Multiple Occupation with five or more people living as two or more households, regardless of storey height; and
2. All Houses in Multiple Occupation that are three or more storeys in height and occupied by at least three people living as two or more households.

If you are a private tenant, private landlord, stakeholder or local resident the Council wants to hear your views. Please take time to read the background information about the scheme and then complete the online survey or download a survey to be returned by email or post (see below).

Downloaded surveys should be returned by email or post - see Contact us at the bottom of the page.

You may also like to participate in a mixed discussion. These proved to be very helpful during the initial round of consultation, so three further meetings have been arranged in May 2012:

1. Friday 11 May 2012 at 10.30am (Room 46, Guildhall)
2. Monday 14 May 2012 at 6pm (Committee Room 1, Guildhall)
3. Tuesday 15 May 2012 at 3.30pm(Committee Room 1, Guildhall)

Please note, places are limited to 20 per group, so please confirm your attendance in advance by contacting the Property Inspection Team (see below).

The end of the consultation is 20 May 2012.

Following the end of the consultation period survey results and recommendations will be presented to a future Place and Sustainability Committee for consideration.

Kingston Council would like to thank everyone who has commented to date and would welcome their continued involvement over the coming weeks.

If you require any further information, or would like a paper copy of the survey, please contact the Council's Property Inspection team on 020 8547 5003 or email ENhousingstaff@rbk.kingston.gov.uk

Further Housing Information

Use the short cut links below to read further information on housing, including enforcement, grant aid for repairs, improvement or adaptation.

For information on Property Licences please see the section on Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)

This policy is regularly updated and covers all areas of private sector housing where grant aid may be available.

See whether you could qualify for grant aid towards housing repairs, improvements or adaptations by going to the Related Document Link below on Housing Renewal Policy.

Call 020 8547 5003 and find out if you qualify for grant aid.

The Council's current policy on all forms of available help is laid out in the Housing Renewal Policy accessible above. The two following items, HOUSEPROUD and Energy conservation may also be appropriate to your needs.

The worry free way to repair, improve or adapt your home.  See Related Document Links below for further information on houseproud.

Reporting an empty property: We are particularly interested in private properties that have been empty for over 12 months. To report an empty property, please call us on 020 8547 5003. We will investigate and contact the owner to try to bring the property back into use and may use enforcement powers where appropriate.

Alternatively, go to reportemptyhomes.com run by the Empty Homes Agency and insert full details - see the Related External Links below. The Agency will refer cases in Kingston to us.

Please tell us as much as you know and please be accurate as to the precise address of the empty property. The information you give us will help identify what action is needed.

Bringing an empty property back into use: We work to encourage the owners of empty properties to work in partnership with the Council and take advantage of the advice and financial assistance on offer. Where an empty property is the subject of regular complaints from neighbours, we may consider compulsory purchase of the property.

Bringing empty properties into use has many advantages:

• Rental income may be obtained
• A valuable asset is preserved
• Better security from vandalism
• Complaints about eyesores, squatters etc are avoided
• Possibility of enforcement action is avoided. For example an enforced sale, compulsory purchase or an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO).

Kingston Council provide details of schemes and useful contacts to help you bring your property back into use.

There are two main ways:

If the property is in good repair:
If the property doesn’t need any repairs or decorations, the Tenant Finder Service may wish to use the property. For further information please phone 020 8547 5003 and ask for the Tenant Finder Service.

If the property needs renovation - Grants:
Renovation Grants are available to the owners of vacant properties.

The scheme is open to anyone with a property that has been vacant for a minimum six month period, who will offer the property (once repaired) to the Tenant Finder Service for a minimum period of three years. The property will be used to house the Council's customers in housing need.

The maximum grant is £22,000 per two bedroom unit and £27,000 for three and more bedroom units.

Work that can qualify for grants includes re-roofing, new windows, damp-proofing work, general disrepair, decorations, insulation work and security issues.

If you have an empty property, please either:-

• Email us on housingcontactcentre@rbk.kingston.gov.uk
• Telephone our Customer Contact Centre on 020 8547 5003.

Developers list
If you are an investor or property developer interested in purchasing empty properties in the Royal Borough of Kingston, you can apply to have your details put on our developers list.  This list is sent to owners of empty properties in the borough who are thinking about selling.

To apply please email: housingcontactcentre@rbk.kingston.gov.uk with information about the areas and property types you are interested in.

Use the contact information below to register a complaint about your housing conditions or to ask for advice.

The Housing Act 2004 has introduced a radically new procedure for the evaluation and enforcement of housing conditions. It is the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), which is a risk rating system for 29 specified hazards that might be encountered in the environment of a dwelling (including areas such as access and gardens etc related to the dwelling).  The most notable innovation in this system is the importance given to the health risk of poor energy efficiency, something that was barely considered under the old "Fitness for Human Habitation" standard. Councils have a range of options for enforcement under this system - from the issue of a Hazard Awareness Notice to a Prohibition Notice. Appeals and adjudication under this, and other Housing Act 2004 provisions are to Residential Property Tribunals rather than to a County Court. All landlords and agents should make themselves aware of their duties in relation to the health and safety of their tenants.

HMOs can simply be defined as any accommodation occupied by members of more than one household. (A household is defined as being comprised of the members of one family). HMOs provide an important source of housing, but they often present higher risks to health and safety than single household accommodation, and often house vulnerable occupants. There is specific legislation requiring landlords of HMOs where there are five or more people sharing facilities in buildings of three or more storeys to apply to the local authority for a licence. It is essential for landlords to find out about licensing as the failure to apply to licence a licensable property is a serious offence and can carry a penalty of up to £20,000.

If you have any doubts as to whether your property is licensable please contact the Property Inspection Team on 020 8547 5003 or by email to: ENhousingstaff@rbk.kingston.gov.uk

The Council's application form for a HMO licence is currently available from the Council upon request, and will soon be downloadable from the Council’s website.

Section 63 of the Housing Act 2004 allows a local authority to set a licensing fee, and details of the Council’s HMO licensing fee structure for year 2011/2012 are set out in the table below:

RBK Fee Structure from April 2011	£
Fee per unit (new applications)	200
Fee per unit (renewal applications)	160
Discounts:     LLAs     Charity     Early applications	100 50% 50
Maximum Fee	3000
Variation Fee	100

The Council offers a £100 discount for each property where the landlord is accredited with the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme (LLAS). The cost of an LLAS course is £79.90. It also offers a discount of £50 for applications submitted in full and on first request, to reflect the reduced administrative costs in chasing outstanding and incomplete applications. There is a maximum fee of £3000, and licensable HMOs owned by a charity will receive a 50% discount.  In the event that a landlord has applied for a licence to be varied in some way, a charge of £100 per variation will be applied.

The Council revised its standards for HMOs and a copy of the current standards is available in Related Document Links below.

If you require any further information, please phone 020 8547 5003 and ask to speak to the Property Inspection Team.

If your complaint concerns security of tenure, harassment or similar landlord/tenant matters you should contact the Housing Advice and Options Service on 020 8547 5003.

If your query concerns drainage you may find your answer at the Drainage and Sewage page - see Also see below.

Our postal address is:

Property Inspection Team
Place and Regeneration
Guildhall 2
High Street
Kingston upon Thames
KT1 1 EU

Tel: 020 8547 5003
Fax: 020 8547 5568
Email: ENhousingstaff@rbk.kingston.gov.uk

Please contact us if the information you require is not here.