March 26, 2014 10.55 am This story is over 119 months old

New private housing standards considered in Lincoln

Higher standards: Councillors in Lincoln agreed to look into a new licensing scheme to improve housing standards in the city.

The City of Lincoln Council’s Executive Committee have agreed to look into introducing more measures to improve the quality of certain housing in Lincoln.

At present, only mandatory licensing of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) is carried out in Lincoln, applying to properties of at least three storeys with five or more residents not living together as one household, also known as a house share.

However, the council are now considering rolling these standards out to more types of housing in the private rental sector, alongside the current accreditation scheme.

Simon Colburn, Assistant Director for Health and Environmental Services, said: “There is an ongoing problem with the quality and management of some private sector housing within Lincoln.

“This can, and does, lead to a number of issues, such as poor housing conditions for tenants, impact on physical and mental health, inefficient energy usage resulting in unaffordable fuel, and anti-social behaviour.

“With the Executive’s agreement, we will begin exploring the possibility of introducing more licensing, which would include conditions landlords must comply with.

“These could include fire, gas and electrical safety, general management of the property, dealing with anti-social behaviour and a requirement that landlords both get and provide references for tenants.”

The Executive approved the development of a business case to look into the feasibility of an accreditation scheme and licensing, and which areas of the city this might best apply.

Any future decision would be subject to a consultation involving landlords, agents, tenants and residents.