4  The Proposal

It is proposed that Thanet District Council designate the area outlined in red on the map below as a selective licensing area (a larger version of the map can be found in appendix 2 with a detailed street list). This area has been chosen due to the high level of privately rented accommodation. The nature of this accommodation and the way in which these properties are used has led to substantial problems in the area which are detailed in this section.  Should the designation be made it will last for 5 years and is intended to tackle low housing demand, reduce anti social behaviour, and deal with the poor management of privately rented accommodation in a combined approach with other initiatives and strategies.

Map: Proposed designation area

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4.1 Evidence to support the scheme

Based on the guidance document ‘Approval steps for additional and selective licensing designations in England’ Thanet District Council believes it has sufficient evidence to support the need to introduce such a scheme both in regard of low housing demand and anti social behaviour.

4.1.1  Low Housing Demand

Property value

The value of residential premises in the area is much lower that the rest of Thanet and the average across Kent. The Total Place project carried out in 2009 (Final report 19^th February 2010) and the feasibility study carried out by DTZ on behalf of Kent County Council ‘Intervention and delivery Model Draft Report’ April 2010, show that the average price of property in Thanet is £164,263 (2009). The average house price in Cliftonville West and Margate Central is £119,916. Below provides average house prices for comparison against a selection of towns across the south east.

The value of property in Cliftonville West and Margate Central is significantly lower than other areas of Thanet. It is also lower than Hastings which has very similar problems to Thanet with similar types of property. However, when compared to Brighton the values of property in the proposed area are half that of Brighton. Although it could be argued that Brighton is not comparable to Cliftonville and Margate, the types of property, the coastal problems and the coastal economy are comparable, and these values are the aspiration for the proposed area.

Turnover of residents

The area has a significant turnover of residents. Based on the 2001 census, the population movement for both Cliftonville West and Margate Central is over 30% per year.  Across Kent and the south east the turn over is 12% and 3% respectively.

Movement around Cliftonville West can be broken as follows:

People moving into Cliftonville West - 16% of the turnover for that ward per annum,

People moving within Cliftonville West - 3% of the population movement per annum and

People moving out of the ward - 13% of the population movement annually.

The high level of transience in Cliftonville West and Margate Central of over 30% makes it hard for community networks to be developed and maintained. (Census 2001)

Tenure

Thanet as a whole has a high level of privately rented accommodation at 28.5% of the stock. In this particular area however there is a significant lift in the numbers. There are around 3200 units of accommodation in the proposed area information supplied by housing benefits suggest that in September 2010 nearly 1500 households in the area were in receipt of housing benefit which is an indicator of privately rented property. This does not include those properties where tenants are not claiming benefit and results from the ‘Your Home Your Health’ scheme suggest that some streets have more than 80% privately rented accommodation.  There are some streets with around 10% owner occupation, which is extremely low and it appears that this may drop further.

Local Facilities

There are a significant number of empty properties and empty shops in the area. Around 52 commercial units are currently empty, mainly situated in Northdown Road although there are a number of commercial units dispersed throughout the proposed area including some nightclubs. In 2005 there were 297 commercial units (not including sports halls, schools and surgeries) with very few national chains supporting the main shopping street. 151 shops were registered in the area being small independent stores and second hand furniture stores. There are 41 offices but letting agents and estate agents have not been classified separately and appear to come under this definition. There appears to be less commercial units in the area than were present in 2005 but there is no up to date evidence to support this at present. Based on the current figure of vacant units approximately 17.5% across the proposed area are vacant. Part of Northdown Road is covered by this proposal and there are plans for the economic redevelopment of this area as part of the overall neighbourhood and regeneration plans.

Property condition

The English House survey (2008) shows that 23% of privately owned or rented property in England has at least one category one hazard as assessed under the Housing Health and Safety Rating system (part one of the Housing Act 2004). This is an indicator of substandard accommodation that has the potential to have an effect on the health of the occupier whether through illness or accident. Properties that have a category one hazard are considered to be non-decent (Decent Homes Standard June 2006).  Figures provided by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) show that between 58 and 85% of properties within Cliftonville West have at least one category one hazard

Section 2.3 of this report also details information about property condition. In general the properties within the area are either in substantially poor condition or suffering from neglect and poor maintenance. The Councils Housing Regeneration Team receive a large number of complaints each year about substandard accommodation, 647 complaints were received in 2009 and this figure has been rising year on year across the District. 408 of these complaints were made about property in Cliftonville West and Margate Central Wards. This accounts for more than 60% of the team’s time being spent within these two wards. The majority of complaints are in the proposal area due to the high levels of rented accommodation.

Level of privately rented properties and empty property.

The proposed area has approximately 3200 units of accommodation of which approximately 20% are empty (680 units). Housing benefit data shows that there are at least 1500 claims that indicate a privately rented unit. In addition there are rented units that have not yet been identified who are not claiming a benefit. In total it is estimated that between 2200 and 2500 are privately rented. This is between 70 and 80% of the stock and in some streets the level has been found to be in excess of 80%. The average level of privately rented across Thanet is 28.5% (2008 stock condition survey) and the national average is now 15%.

The map below shows the known rented properties in the proposed area as recorded in September 2010. It also shows the location of service requests received by the Council in respect of housing conditions and anti social behaviour. This includes complaints about; dumped rubbish, noise nuisance from music, dog fouling, vandalism, graffiti, and other types of noise nuisance in 2009-2010

Map: Service Requests 2009/10

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More than 80% of poor housing conditions and anti social behaviour activity relates to privately rented property. This information is subject to the limitations of data protection and therefore the exact nature and location of the requests cannot be shown. The map above does however show a relationship between these complaints and rented property.

Criminal activity

The map below plots the recorded crime across the proposed area between October 2009 and October 2010. This area suffers significant crime compared to the rest of the district. The data is plotted by postcode and shows that almost all properties in the area have been subject to crime in the past year.

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This includes the following types of crime burglary, criminal damage, drug offences, fraud and forgery, robbery, sexual offences, shoplifting, theft from a vehicle, theft of a vehicle, and violence against a person. A total of 416 offences have been committed in the past year. 68% of the offenders are unemployed, 11.2% are students in education and the remainder (20.8%) are mainly low skilled workers. The addresses of the offenders are recorded by the police on entering custody. Although Kent Police are unable to give precise figures they have indicated that the majority of offenders are private tenants. In total Thanet had 10,843 offences of which 3,106 were detected (28.6%). 527 offenders live in Cliftonville West ward and 416 (54.6%) live within the proposal area.  The map on page 25 shows the relationship between levels of crime and rented property.

4.1.2   Anti social behaviour

Anti-social behaviour is any activity that impacts on other people in a negative way. The term 'anti-social behaviour' includes a variety of behaviour covering a whole range of selfish and unacceptable activity that can blight the quality of community life. Other terms such as 'nuisance', 'neighbour disputes' and 'disorder' are also used to describe some of this behaviour.

The legal definition of behaving in an anti-social manner is found in Section 1(1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Many agencies tackling anti-social behaviour have adopted this definition for use in relation to anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) and for more general purposes. The Act defines anti-social behaviour as:

'acting in an anti-social manner , that is to say, in a manner that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as himself'

This means that a complaint of anti-social behaviour cannot be made against a perpetrator who lives in the same household as the complainant'.

For the purpose of seeking a housing injunction or a demotion order, anti-social behaviour is defined in the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by s13 and 14 Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 ) as:

'conduct which is capable of causing nuisance or annoyance'.

Another generalised definition of anti-social behaviour used by agencies is;

“Anti-social behaviour is any aggressive, intimidating or destructive activity that damages or destroys another person's quality of life”.

Under the Housing Act 2004 section 57 (5) anti social behaviour is defined as “anti-social conduct on the part of occupiers of, or visitors to, residential premises which causes or is likely to cause a nuisance or annoyance to persons residing, visiting or otherwise engaged in lawful activities in the vicinity of such premises, or which involves or is likely to involve the use of such premises for illegal purposes”.  For the purposes of this selective licensing proposal the Housing Act definition must be used.

Crime, nuisance and environmental crime.

Cliftonville West and Margate Central have been the highest wards for anti social behaviour compared to the rest of Thanet for many years. Currently, levels of ASB in the two wards make up 24% of all ASB across Thanet and 24% of total crime in Thanet.  That amounts to 247.3 crimes per 1000 population, set against the county average of 71.3 per 1000 population (KCC, 2010).  

As there is a high percentage of properties that are privately rented in these two wards, it is reasonable to suggest there is a link between anti social behaviour and rented property. Landlords are expected to play a part in combating antisocial behaviour as part of their role in managing their properties; however, the experience of Community Safety Officers indicates that many private landlords have not been taking this role on board. They do not appear to be requiring references and are not considering the suitability of tenants for a property. Some landlords are unwilling to deal with their anti social tenants when contacted by Thanet District Council and Police. It is expensive and time consuming for local services to deal with anti social behaviour often requiring input from a number of services such as community safety officers, waste and recycling, environmental health, private sector housing, Kent Police and Social Services.

Kent Police have received 783 calls regarding anti social behaviour in the Cliftonville West ward and 1005 in Margate Central ward between 25 November 2009 and 25 November 2010. That is a total of 1788 calls, relating to issues that could have been resolved through the provisions of a tenancy agreement, such as disturbances, neighbour disputes, fighting, noise, prostitution and threatening behaviour.

In the last year in Cliftonville West, 12 Acceptable Behaviour Agreements (ABAs) were served; two Anti Social Behaviour Orders and two injunctions were carried out by officers.

On a recent multi agency ‘cleansweep’ operation in Cliftonville West over thirty three properties were visited in the Cliftonville area. These had been identified as the most recent to contribute to the most significant issues with regards to crime and anti social behaviour. Half of the tenants questioned did not have to provide references before moving in and over half did not have to give a deposit. These types of issues are encouraging tenants that may have been previously evicted due to anti social behaviour to move to properties within this area, without proper support and where there is poor management. 

Further evidence is highlighted by other recent cleansweep operations in the two wards, where 72 false benefit claims were identified, 25 premises were identified as having inadequate or no fire detection and 15 alleyways had to be cleared of dumped rubbish.

A total of 189 fixed penalty notices have also been served in the last year within the two wards. This equates to 39 tickets for dog fouling, 136 for litter and 14 for incorrect waste disposal. Significantly, 95% of all fixed penalty notices issued across Thanet are in Margate Central and Cliftonville West.

Dumped rubbish is also an element of anti social behaviour and can have a huge effect on the community. In roads where fly tipping is particularly problematic, an additional daily vehicle has had to be added to remove waste on top of the normal collection timetable. Euro bins have also been placed in some roads within the two wards in an attempt to deal with the issue; however, officers still have to attend to call outs relating to rubbish issues and arranging for its removal on a regular basis.

There have been 416 criminal offences in the area over the past year. Of those offences, fraud and forgery, burglary, drugs offences and criminal damage make up 35% of the total. These are areas where better management of properties could make a difference through identifying tenants involved with drugs, being aware of the potential for associated crime and then being prepared to contact the council or police as appropriate. Burglary can be prevented by ensuring the security of the accommodation is sufficient to prevent unauthorised access to the property, and fraud can be prevented by ensuring anomalies in benefit claims and payments are identified and reported to the council as soon a possible for investigation.

The Map below shows the relationship between crime and privately rented accommodation. The crime is shown on a post code basis and there are few areas where there has been no crime associated with it over the past year. Due to the high levels of rented accommodation it is reasonable to suggest there is a link between rented the detected crime.

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Although there are a significant number of powers available to deal with the individuals who are involved in anti social behaviour there is a significant problem with landlords either avoiding their responsibility in dealing with tenant behaviour or do not realise that they have a responsibility.

Selective licensing will apply to all landlords within the proposed area. Although this may seem unfair to those landlords who believe that they are dealing with anti social behaviour and are managing their properties effectively, there are many who are unaware that they may need to change the way they deal with their property. As such, it is necessary for the scheme to cover the whole area identified in the map in order to cover the roads and properties where significant problems are found and reach those that have been able to avoid contact with the council for many years.

The council is unable to determine who is a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ landlord. This is subjective and open to interpretation and therefore impossible to administer fairly. Many landlords who would consider themselves ‘good’ landlords can fall foul of the legislation as they may not be up to date or know where to get the support they require. Therefore it is necessary for the scheme to apply to everyone without exception. (There are exemptions to the scheme refer to appendix three).

Selective licensing will provide the council with the additional powers to ensure that landlords are responsible for those elements of their tenant’s behaviour that are within their control through tenancy agreements. With better regulation all landlords will be required to adhere to acceptable standards for managing their properties, including taking references and taking action against tenants if they are regularly anti social.   

The ways in which the council will assist with this are detailed in section 5.

4.2 Fees

In calculating the fee Thanet DC has set out the process for handling a licence application. This process includes the costs relating to publicity (to ensure compliance from landlords and ensure residents and tenants are aware of the scheme), the administrative process involved in handling an application, the legal processes involved in proposing the licence and conditions and finally making the decision to either grant the licence or refuse it. Each part of the process has been assessed on the average amount of time each stage will take a different level of officer within the team. The amount of time, in minutes, is then calculated against the costs of that officer’s time in minutes.

This process has identified that the costs incurred to carry out the function of selective licensing is £525 per licence application.

Having taken account of the comments and recommendations made during the consultation period the following fee structure is proposed. The fee structure is based on the definitions set out in the Act for a ‘house’ with the baseline fee being £525 per application. It includes a discount for early valid applications (valid means that all required paperwork and the fee have been supplied), and an additional discount for landlords accredited through the Kent Landlord Accreditation scheme. Other accreditation schemes may be considered and will be dealt with on an individual basis. Members of alternative schemes will need to contact the council so that the scheme can be checked and verified before any discount is agreed.

There is also a discount for multiple dwellings owned by the same freeholder or leaseholder within the same building. The £240 for each additional flat has been calculated using the same method as described above. However since it is not necessary to carry out all the processes some have been omitted. Officer time is still required in assessing the plans of each flat, checking individual certificates and considering the conditions, and therefore there is additional cost associated with a multiple application.

Example fee calculation: Landlord A owns the freehold interest in a building containing five self-contained flats. Flats 1, 2 and 3 are not subject to a lease and are let by Landlord A on assured short hold tenancies. The other two flats are owned by long leaseholders. Flat 4 is owner-occupied by the long leaseholder; as such, there is no requirement to apply for a licence for that flat. Flat 5 is owned by a leaseholder, Landlord B, who sub-lets the flat to a tenant on an assured short hold tenancy. Landlord A can apply for one licence for the entire building which excludes Flats 4 and 5. If Landlord A is an accredited landlord and he makes his application before 30^th June 2011, he will be charged £375 for the first flat and £240 for each additional flat. The total cost will therefore be £855. Landlord B will need to apply for a licence for Flat 5, which would cost £375 if he was an accredited landlord and applied on or before 30 June 2011.

Although this is a more complicated approach, it is fairer and less resource intensive for both the landlord and council staff. This means that the council will be able to administer licences in a timely fashion and concentrate resources on inspection and enforcement more effectively. The council is keen that landlords contact us to discuss their applications where they are unsure on the fee that is appropriate to them. 

4.3 Application process

Thanet DC will be operating an on line application process. This will be a system that uses a pre-set standard application process and will submit licence applications electronically. Correspondence will then be via e-mail wherever possible.

If the designation is agreed in January 2011 then the designation will become operative in April 2011. Between February and April 2011 it will be possible to make an early application before the scheme is operative.  The operative date is the date at which the council can start to exercise its enforcement powers under the scheme.

4.4  Proposed conditions on the licence

In addition to the mandatory licence conditions discussed in 3.4 the council has the power to introduce additional conditions that may be property specific or area specific.

The following is an example of the type of additional conditions that are likely to be attached.

Anti-social behaviour

The licence holder (and the manager if applicable) must take all reasonable steps to resolve any anti-social behaviour problems caused by occupiers of, and visitors to, the house. The reasonable steps must be appropriate and proportional.

The licence holder (and the manager if applicable) must fully co-operate with the Police and Council officials where reports of anti-social behaviour have been made in respect of the house.

The licence holder must have a formal procedure in place to deal with any occupier or visitor to the house who perpetrates any form of anti-social behaviour.

The licence holder must, on demand, supply to the Council a written statement describing the formal system he/she has adopted for dealing with anti-social behaviour problems caused by occupiers and visitors.

The licence holder (and the manager if applicable) can demonstrate compliance with this condition by contacting the Council as soon as he/she becomes aware that there are anti-social behaviour problems associated with the house and by following the advice given by the Council in every respect.

For the purpose of this licence, “anti-social behaviour” means conduct on the part of occupiers of, or visitors to, the house:

(a)     which causes or is likely to cause a nuisance or annoyance to persons residing, visiting or otherwise engaged in lawful activities in the vicinity of the house, or

(b)     which involves or is likely to involve the use of the house for illegal purposes.

Property specific conditions may relate to the amenities in the property or the occupation level. Area specific conditions will include conditions around anti social behaviour and waste disposal. There may be other conditions relating to specific issues experienced over the course of licensing that need to be managed.

Next: Results of the consultation

Back: Legislative Framework

• How to apply
• Introduction
• The Profile
• Legislative Framework
• The Proposal
• Results of the consultation
• Enforcement and delivery
• Benefits of a designation
• Schemes in other areas
• Conclusion
• Appendix 1: Draft Proposal for consultation
• Appendix 2: Map and list of streets
• Appendix 3: Formal Notice to designate
• Appendix 4: Legislative framework

Housing Regeneration Team

E-mail:

housing.conditions
@thanet.gov.uk

Tel: 01843 577437