Bristol City Council – The lights are on but no one’s home!

Bristol City Council – The lights are on but no one’s home!

10:56 AM, 9th October 2019, About 5 years ago 30

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I have just received an email from Bristol City Council regarding my recent license application for one of my HMOs and I also just paid them £1050.00 for the pleasure.

I list here the accompanying 37 conditions (yes really 37 of them) I have to follow. I really think whoever wrote these conditions has no experience of actually being a landlord.

For sure I’m putting up rents if I have to follow all these conditions. At first glance I can see all sorts of problems with at least 10 of them.

West of England – Bristol City Council’s
Houses in Multiple Occupation – Licence Conditions
Property (HMO): XX XXXX Road, Southville, Bristol, BS3 XXX
The licence holder and/or manager:

1. Must, if gas is supplied to the house, produce to the Council, annually, for their inspection a satisfactory gas safety certificate obtained in respect of the house within the last 12 months.
2. Must keep electrical appliances and furniture made available in the house in a safe condition and must supply to the Council, on demand a written declaration verifying the safety of the appliances and furniture.
3. Must supply to the occupiers of the house a written statement of the terms on which they occupy it.
4. Must request a reference for each new person wishing to occupy the house. The reference request should include questions about anti-social behaviour, acting in a non-tenant like manner and any problems in respect of non-payment of rent. References must be retained for a minimum of 6 months from the issuing of the licence and must supply to the Council on demand.
5. Must provide, on request from other landlords an honest, factual and accurate written reference relating to existing or past occupiers.
6. Must issue new tenants/occupiers with a tenancy/written agreement that include clauses that will allow the licence holder to take reasonable steps to tackle anti-social behaviour.
7. Must have facilities, such as a telephone number, email address or postal address, to receive and respond to initial complaints about the behaviour of tenants or their visitors.
8. Must take all reasonable steps to deal with anti-social behaviour perpetrated by occupiers and/or visitors to the property.
9. Must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the property is not used for illegal or immoral purposes.
10. Must complete the West of England Landlord Development Programme or otherwise have evidence of successfully completing equivalent training by a recognised landlord association on demand.
11. Must ensure that the property is inspected on a regular basis to assess if there is evidence of anti-social behaviour ; this should be at least quarterly, but more frequently if anti-social behaviour has been established.
12. Must take all reasonable steps to keep the exterior of the property free from graffiti and fly posters.
13. Must ensure that tenants have 24hrs direct access to all toilet, personal washing and cooking facilities and equipment.
14. Must ensure that there is no obligate sharing of bedrooms.
15. Must supply to the Council on demand the names of all occupants.
16. Must ensure that the West of England Code of Good Management Practice is to be complied with and a copy is to be permanently displayed so as to be visible to all tenants.
17. Must ensure any person involved in, or becoming involved in the management of the property after the licence date must be a fit and proper person and must supply the Council on demand with a completed declaration in respect of a fit and proper person’ form for each person.
18. Must notify the Council in writing of any change to the name, address or any other contact details (including email address) of the licence holder, manager or any other person involved in the management of the property, within 14 days of that change.
19. Must comply with the Bristol City Council ‘Room Size & Amenity Standards for Licensable HMOs’ and ‘Fire Safety Standards for Licensable HMOs’ documents. These documents may be updated during the term of the licence and it is the responsibility of the licence holder and/or manager to ensure that they are aware of, and are complying with the latest versions. The latest versions of these documents can be found at www.bristol.gov.uk/hmo.
20. Must ensure that the property is managed in such a way that it is maintained in good repair. Facilities and equipment must be kept in a safe condition and good working order. Worn or dangerous furniture or fittings must be replaced.
21. Must supply to the Council, where applicable, a current Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) on demand.
22. Must comply with the minimum level of energy efficiency for privately rented property required under The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property)(England and Wales) Regulations 2015. From April 2018, landlords of privately rented property in England or Wales must ensure that their properties reach at least an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E before granting a new tenancy to new or existing tenants. From 1 April 2020 these requirements will then apply to all private rented properties, all subject to any exemptions from this regulations.
23. Must meet current statutory requirements for electrical installation and supply to the Council, on demand a current (less than 5 years old) electrical installation condition report. Any category 1 or 2 defects in a report must be rectified. On the expiry of a report, a new report must be obtained and supplied to the Council within 2 months of the previous report’s expiry date.
24. Must, where there is an existing fire alarm system, supply to the Council on demand a satisfactory certificate of inspection and testing as required under BS 5839-6: 2013.
25. Must ensure that a smoke alarm is installed on each storey of the house on which there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation and to keep any such alarm in proper working order.
26. Where there is a new tenancy these alarms must be checked on the day the tenancy begins and supply on demand a declaration of the condition and positioning of any such alarms.
27. Must ensure that a carbon monoxide alarm is installed in any room (includes a hall or landing) in the property which is used wholly or partly as living accommodation (includes bathroom or lavatory) and contains a solid fuel burning combustion appliance, and to keep any such alarm in proper working order. The alarms must be checked on the day the tenancy begins if it is a new tenancy and supply on demand a declaration of the condition and positioning of any such alarms.
Note – Solid fuel includes coal, wood, etc. A non-functioning, purely decorative fireplace would not constitute a solid fuel burning combustion appliance.
28. Must provide to the Council, on demand a declaration that the lighting system is in proper working order. Emergency lighting to be maintained in accordance with the relevant British Standard (BS5266: Part 1: 2005).
29. Must, where the LACoRS “Housing – Fire Safety, Guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing” has been used to determine fire precautions, review the precautions annually or whenever there are alterations to the property or its contents or at changes of tenancy; to ensure the fire precautions are appropriate to the risk, written evidence of any review to be supplied on demand
30. Must provide written details of fire evacuation procedures to tenants/occupiers. Ensure that all tenants/occupiers are aware of fire and fault indications of the fire alarm system and are adequately familiar with controls (e.g. resetting). They must also be made aware of measures to avoid false alarms. These details must be supplied on demand.
31. Must, where food is provided, ensure food handlers have appropriate food safety training.
32. Must ensure that the layout of the property, including any numbering of rooms is not altered without first gaining written permission from the Council. Requests to alter the layout should be made in writing to Licensing Team, Private Housing, Bristol City Council and include a full description of the proposed changes.
33. Must ensure that the property is occupied in accordance with, and by no more than the number of persons and households specified in the licence.
34. Must, if the occupation of the property is in excess of the maximum permitted number, inform the Licensing Team, Private Housing, Bristol City Council in writing within 28 days of the over occupation occurring.
35. Must, if any proposed changes to the mode of occupation be submitted to the Licensing Team, Private Housing, Bristol City Council to determine if any changes to the conditions and the permitted number are needed.
36. Must provide suitable facilities for the storage and disposal of refuse and recycling in accordance with the Council’s waste and recycling collection requirements.
37. Must ensure that their name, address, any telephone contact number or email address are made available to each household and such details are clearly displayed in a prominent position in the property.

Bristol Landlord


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Comments

Bristol Landlord

15:51 PM, 11th October 2019, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Mick Roberts at 11/10/2019 - 15:06
Mick, that’s a really good idea, I will do that.
What is your plan for when they do away with S21?

Sjp

7:37 AM, 12th October 2019, About 5 years ago

Hi there. It’s a long list but other than Point 10, surely everything else is what you should be doing anyway if you e got a licensible HMO? I certainly had to have all of these things in place (but fair enough because that’s the law) plus more, which I then had to do before my licence was granted. To be fair I think the list of things is the norm for HMO landlords apart from 10 which I think is overkill. Sorry just my opinion but most things are either having to be in their contracts anyway like any other rental, or part of the general HMO or Health and Safety regulations.

Mick Roberts

9:51 AM, 12th October 2019, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Bristol Landlord at 11/10/2019 - 15:51
I want to sell now, but I'm not one for giving tenants notice when it's their home & they been there 22 years. Although they do crap on me if they get the chance.
So I'm just gonna' ride the storm.

Here is some words I had to prepare yesterday if you want to pull anything out it for yourself:

Description:https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/around-half-rented-properties-still-3411426

Yes u get a license from the Govt to drive a car and that costs £20 or whatever it is nowadays.

They don't tell u Ooh u drive your missus's car and sometimes your mate, so we gonna charge u a whopping £780 X let's say 36 cars just in case.
And is the license on the car or the driver?

So why do we have to have 36 X £780 then?
Why upset a tenant that has lived there 22 years with ZERO problems really happy and now tell her she's got to have inspections cause she's not trustworthy enough and she's also got to have rent increase to pay for this charade. Why has she got to pay? As we all know rent pays for all outgoings on house and if u increase the outgoings, rent has to increase to pay for it. She had no problem before. U have just created a problem where there wasn't one.

Why ask for the landlords SAME passport 36 times by the slowest upload method possible when u said in front of 200 Landlords in the Council office u wun't ask Landlords to send in duplicated info?

If the council was inspecting a house, we have established it costs £77 to check a house. Where has the other £703 come from? It's the vulnerable HB UC tenants that have ended up worse off cause of this.

Why insert 37+ conditions with sub menus A to G on tenants that ARE ALREADY living there?

Why tell Landlords they can no longer take tenants without a reference or they break the terms of the license? Where does that leave vulnerable HB tenants who can no longer move any more?

Us responsible Landlords are all up for Licensing if u charged a sensible fee and u inspected EVERY property.

Should have been one thorough check on the Landlord and then an inspection on every house. That hasn't happened. You've forced tenants to shell out a lot of money and the good tenants in good houses have got nothing in return. Their houses have now got worse cause of less funds.

And Landlords have been selling in their droves cause of the laborious and unnecessary admin you've forced upon them.
Making Landlords go and measure bedrooms when tenant lived there 22 year's.
Making Landlords evict tenants cause tenant keeps damaging house, but she wasn't homeless. She is now.

Very good words using Uncertain. Hmm I'm uncertain of the outcome. I'm uncertain of the safety. I must use the words uncertain more often. Covers a lot of excuses.

It's done exactly what we said it would do.
The bad Landlords haven't come forward, and others have sold cause u went too far with the price and conditions.
The homeless is horrendous now if only you'd get Nottingham Council homeless section to ask the Landlord AFTER the eviction why he is selling. And it's one common theme-Licensing.
You expected £25 million in from fees from Landlords via extra rent from tenants and you've got nowhere near this. Yet the other side of the Council is shelling out much more from the calamity licensing has caused.

Bristol Landlord

15:39 PM, 12th October 2019, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Sjp at 12/10/2019 - 07:37
Hi sjp, I suppose my reaction to the BCC licensing conditions are that most of them are either irrelevant, impossible or illegal.
The ones asking for gas safety certificate etc are understandable. Asking for 24 hrs hot water and heating will not always be possible as I’m sure you know due to breakdowns often happening on a weekend or national holiday, then your relying on a plumber or heating engineer to get there soon and with the right parts.
I will do my best though.
The most impossible to deal with are the ones concerning anti social behaviour as I have no powers to change anything or force my tenants to change except to evict them which will soon be impossible when Section 21 is abolished.
They are forcing a majority of good landlords into a difficult position due to a few bad landlords which they already had the powers to deal with.
The whole thing is set up to make any landlord very vulnerable to a £30,000 fine if the Council wants to find something wrong with any house.
If the council wants to make rented property safer then just concentrate on that aspect. If they want to target ASB then create powers to tackle that aspect. What they have done is dumped all that responsibility onto landlords while they sit back and pick and choose what they want to do. I think it’s just a money raising operation for them which will just increase rents for tenants and reduce available houses to rent and increase homelessness, as Mick has pointed out in Nottingham.

Bristol Landlord

16:55 PM, 12th October 2019, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Mick Roberts at 12/10/2019 - 09:51Just read a report that said if/when S21 is abolished the PRS could lose 20% of available property to rent.
Combine that with local authority licensing of HMOs plus Brexit slamming the economy at the same time and we will have the perfect storm, not sure exactly how this is going to play out but for sure renters are going to have a much harder time to find a place to rent, though whatever they find will be nicely decorated and have the licensing rules posted on the wall.
The really interesting question is what will happen to rents? No S21, HMO licensing and less houses on the market will put upward pressure on rents but Brexit and the resulting damaged economy will lead to tenants losing their jobs and so reduced ability to pay higher rents.
So which will win out?
For sure the “marginal” renters such as the jobless, minimum wage earners, UC claimants and those without good references or good credit are going to find it very hard to find a nice place in a good part of town.

Reluctant Landlord

17:17 PM, 12th October 2019, About 5 years ago

....and this is why.....i don't do HMO's. I have enough grey hair with 'normal' UC tenants. This would send me over the edge. Good Luck to anyone in the HMO sector I say!

Gromit

18:28 PM, 12th October 2019, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Bristol Landlord at 12/10/2019 - 16:55
".....whatever they find will be nicely decorated and have the licensing rules posted on the wall."

I doubt it, it'll be all the good decent law abiding Landlords that will exit the PRS, leaving the rogue law ignoring Landlords, with wallpaper hanging off the walls only held on by black mould.

Bristol Landlord

18:43 PM, 12th October 2019, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Gromit at 12/10/2019 - 18:28
Gromit, so true, maybe there will be a surge in sales of black paint as suddenly black walls become trendy in the more dodgy houses, black paint being perfect for painting over black mould.

Gromit

18:48 PM, 12th October 2019, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Bristol Landlord at 12/10/2019 - 18:43
I'm not sure that rogue Landlords know what paint is 🙂

Reluctant Landlord

18:53 PM, 12th October 2019, About 5 years ago

and the total irony? The good LL's sell up as this licencing becomes strangling....and who's going to buy off them? The rouge ones clearly. Clearly a perfect way to raise standards.... *facepalmslap*

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