Issue - meetings

That the Flintshire Private Rented Sector Improvement Plan be supported.         

The Director of Community Services introduced the report to inform Members of the work undertaken to date as part of the WLGA supported Private Rented Sector Improvement Plan and to seek Members views on how the Council should work with the sector to achieve the key outcomes of growth, quality and accessibility. 

He detailed the background to the report and explained that in Flintshire the levels of private rented housing was just below to the national average at 11.5% however, there was a lower than average social rented sector at 15% compared to 17% nationally.  Flintshire had developed a Private Rented Sector Improvement Plan which was structured around five objectives which were detailed in the report.  The Director of Community Services explained that the lower number of both privately rented and socially rented properties in Flintshire would become increasingly problematic, as a highly competitive rental market would restrict access generally and particularly to those from vulnerable groups requiring support.  Reductions in the availability of mortgage finance and the need for a large deposit had also resulted in more people seeking to rent rather than buy.  The result of this was that private landlords had the ability to ‘cherry pick’ their tenants and may therefore overlook vulnerable groups, who may be deemed to be of greater risk.  In quarter 1 of 2013/14 42 people were accepted as homeless compared to 21 people for the same quarter in 2012/13.  Welfare benefit changes were also impacting on the sector and Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP), which could be made available for a short fixed term period to those tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit or Council Tax and in difficulty paying their rent, had increased by 42% during April/May 2013 compared to the same period in 2012/13. 

The Director of Community Services explained that new duties and responsibilities would be placed on private landlords which may deter them from entering and/or remaining in the private rented market in the future and these included mandatory licensing, which was likely to come into force during 2015.  A further impact on landlords was that during 2016, it would become illegal to rent out properties with an energy rating of F and G, which could require many to make further improvements to their properties and could be an issue for older properties and those of solid walled construction. 

The Community Support Services Manager said that an additional pressure was that from 2015 a change to legislation meant that the local authority had a duty to prevent more homelessness and could discharge duty into the private rented sector.  An inspection had been undertaken to establish how prepared the authority was for the changes and this had indicated that Flintshire County Council was well prepared.  She commented on the work which had been undertaken to date which included enhancing the Flintshire Bond Scheme and improving existing private sector arrangements.  A temporary officer had been appointed to undertake this role and had been funded through the homelessness prevention budget.  The officer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20