Mayor visits private rented housing during licensing consultation
To get first-hand experience of the range of properties that tenants can find themselves living in, they visited two very different houses. One of them, a joint project with Uturn Alcohol Recovery Project, is a licensed and well-managed HMO, and the other is unlicensed and needs improvement.
A tale of two houses
The licensed property:
- is equipped with smoke detectors, safety equipment, fire extinguishers, blankets and alarms
- has is a covered smoking area in the rear garden
- gets no complaints from neighbours
- has a cleaning rota
- gets regular visits from a support worker
- has a sense of community.
The unlicensed HMO:
- has a history of poor management and conditions, flytipping, violence and antisocial behaviour
- is dirty and cramped
- is owned by a company registered as a registered social landlord and therefore, currently evading licencing.
Have your say
We are asking residents for their views on two schemes that intend to give us the ability to license private rented property. This will have the effect of further supporting residents who are having issues with their property or landlord, and making sure that all properties meet a minimum standard.
Damien Egan, Mayor of Lewisham, said: ‘I was struck by the appalling condition of the unlicensed property. Bringing in a borough-wide licensing scheme will enable the council to crackdown on rogue landlords and insist that all privately rented properties are held to a much higher standard.’
If you live or work in the borough of Lewisham, fill in the survey.