Slough’s landlord licensing plan targets 17,000 homes

Landlords across Slough could face new licensing fees and conditions under proposals covering nearly 17,000 privately let homes.

Slough Borough Council has opened a 10-week consultation on selective and additional licensing schemes that would extend across the borough.

Selective licensing would apply to privately let properties occupied by one person, a single family or no more than two unrelated sharers.

The additional scheme would cover smaller houses in multiple occupation that fall outside mandatory HMO licensing.

This includes properties occupied by three or four tenants who share a kitchen or bathroom.

Makes homes attractive

Councillor Zafar Satti, the lead member for public protection and regulatory services, said: “These licensing schemes mean there are more requirements for landlords to follow.

“They must take all measures to provide safe, secure and habitable housing for their tenants.”

He added: “Toughening the rules for the private rented and HMO sectors will only be a good thing, as it puts in place measures to protect residents and communities.

“It will help to make sure properties are of a higher standard, make them more desirable to live in and offer more stability.”

Previous landlord schemes

The council estimates there are 2,024 HMOs among the borough’s 58,540 properties, with 22.3% of those HMOs predicted to contain a serious hazard.

Between 2020 and 2025, 153 of the 369 private rented sector housing enforcement notices served by the authority related HMOs.

Predicted HMOs also accounted for a disproportionately high number of anti-social behaviour complaints and planning issues, according to the consultation announcement.

Slough previously operated a borough-wide additional licensing scheme alongside selective licensing in the Chalvey and Slough Central wards.

New licensing schemes

Those schemes ran from 1 July 2019 until 30 June 2024, resulting in 149 properties being licensed under additional licensing and 3,635 under selective licensing.

The new proposals are intended to build on the earlier schemes and improve housing conditions across the private rented sector.

Landlords covered by either scheme would have to pay for a licence lasting up to five years.

The consultation opened on 15 July and closes on 23 September.