Clause 57 - Licences: general requirements and duration
Housing Bill
4:30 pm
Mr Robert Syms (Poole, Conservative)
The licence will run for five years, and because it is to be introduced at one time, the vast majority of properties will be licensed at about the same time. Therefore, will there not be bunching? Local authorities' environmental health officers will be examining HMOs and licensing a lot for a period, then there will not be very much business, and then there will be a lot again. Has the Minister for Housing and Planning thought about the implications of this for local government? For vehicle licences, there is a constant monthly and annual turnover, so there is a steady flow of work. For these property licences, because of the start date and the five-year period, it is inevitable that there will be peak periods of work. Environmental health officers will sometimes have a lot to do, and at other times they will not have a lot to do. Have the Government thought about the throughput of work?