House of Lords written question – answered at on 27 March 2006.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What representations they have received from local authorities looking to extend their houses in multiple occupation licensing scheme to smaller properties under Section 56 of the Housing Act 2004.
The Government have not yet received any formal representations from local authorities looking to use the discretionary powers provided by Section 56 of the Housing Act to extend houses in multiple occupation (HMO) licensing to smaller properties that will fall outside the scope of mandatory licensing. These powers are expected to come into force in April 2006.
However, in December 2003, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister carried out an information-gathering exercise aimed at providing further understanding of the impact of the HMO licensing proposals in the Housing Act on local authorities. As part of the exercise, local authorities were asked for their views on how they might use the discretionary powers provided in the Act to apply additional licensing to smaller HMOs in their areas.
The following 28 authorities indicated their intention to make use of the additional licensing powers in their areas:
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
Alnwick District Council
Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council
West Oxford District Council
South Oxfordshire District Council
Edmundsbury Borough Council
Hynburn Borough Council
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Sevenoaks Borough Council
Huntingdonshire District Council
Hereford Council
In addition, the following local authorities indicated that they might consider applying additional licensing to smaller HMOs in their areas in the future:
North West Leicestershire District Council
Torridge District Council
The Government are aware that the IDeA, government offices and the anti-social behaviour unit of the Home Office recently wrote to all local authorities to find out their intentions about introducing additional HMO licensing in their areas. They are now waiting for responses from the authorities.
Yes0 people think so
No0 people think not
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