HMO Licensing Renewal

Closed 8 Mar 2020

Opened 16 Dec 2019

Contact

Janet Wade

(Principal EHO)

x2307 or x5969

hmo@camden.gov.uk

Overview

Camden sits at the heart of the world’s most vibrant city and as such is a popular place to live. With house prices beyond the reach of many, the number of households renting privately has grown rapidly in recent years and even poor quality accommodation can be rented out easily. 

With rising rents, an increasing number of renters are having to share properties in a variety of ways, for example shared flats and houses, bedsits and studios. Good quality shared accommodation can provide decent and affordable places for Camden residents to live. However, the Council is aware that this type of accommodation can also be badly managed causing problems for the occupants as well as those living nearby.

The Camden Plan states that we will strive to makes homes in Camden safe, well managed and well maintained. The borough-wide additional house in multiple occupation (HMO) licensing scheme introduced on 8 December 2015 helps us achieve this by improving rental standards.

An HMO is defined in law as a house or flat shared by three or more persons who are not part of the same family. The Council also licenses some buildings converted into flats (where the conversion does not meet recent building standards) and where half or more of the flats are rented.

A recent review showed that the licensing scheme has made good progress in improving property and management standards in a large number of HMOs - thereby improving the safety, comfort and well-being of tenants.

As the current additional HMO licensing scheme is now coming to an end we are proposing to renew it for another five years. We believe that continuing the additional licensing scheme will help us work together with landlords and tenants to make sure that all homes are safe and well managed.

We want to know what you think

We want to hear from residents, tenants, landlords and agents, and local businesses in Camden and the neighbouring boroughs of Barnet, Brent, City of London, Haringey, Islington and Westminster.

Before completing our survey, we recommend, as a minimum, that you read our summary of the proposals below. You may also wish to read all the supplementary information below for a full understanding of why we think the scheme is a good idea for Camden and how we propose the scheme would continue to operate in practice.

If you need help completing the survey, tenants and other residents should contact the Camden Federation for Private Tenants on 020 7383 0151 (Mon to Fri, 1pm to 5pm) and landlords should contact our HMO licensing team on 020 7974 5969 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5pm).

We’re also holding several drop in sessions at Camden libraries from 9 January 2020 onwards (details below). Do please pop in to see us if you have any specific queries or need help completing the consultation.

Please complete this questionnaire by midnight on 8 March 2020.

Navigation and privacy

Please navigate through the questions using the 'continue' button. To go back use the 'first' button which will take you back to the first page. Do not use the browser's forward and back buttons as you may lose the complete sections. If you use the 'save and come back later' button you will be prompted for your email so you can be sent a link to continue the form at another time.

Any questions relating to personal information are entirely optional, and any information that you provide in response to this consultation will be processed in accordance with the GDPR. Information will only be used to inform this consultation and any personal information that could identify you will be kept for no more than one year after any decisions have been finalised.

What happens next

All responses to the consultation will be considered before a decision is made to renew the addtional HMO licensing scheme. .

Events

Areas

  • All Areas

Audiences

  • Landlords
  • Residents

Interests

  • Housing