Licence for 'houses of multiple occupation'
As part of its commitment to protecting private tenants, the council is making it even easier to make sure landlords are providing safe accommodation.
New powers granted earlier this year mean that, in some areas of the borough, landlords of properties of two or more stories in height and four or more occupants will need to be licensed by the council.
To get a licence for a 'house of multiple occupation' landlords need to show they are fit and proper and are providing a decent standard of accommodation.
Cllr Jon Hardy, Lead Member for Housing at the Council, said:
"Private tenants who rent their homes from landlords are often among the most vulnerable in our community. They can face uncertain, overcrowded and sometimes dangerous living conditions.
"We want to make sure tenants are protected from living in unsafe and overcrowded housing. Previously, we had no powers to intervene in such cases, but the new legislation means we now have the right tools for the job.
"There are many good landlords renting out a decent standard of accommodation and they have nothing to fear from this legislation: we sought these new powers to deal with the minority of landlords who need to bring their properties up to a decent standard."
The council has already discovered more properties that need licences but there are likely to be more.
To make it easy for people to let us know where they are, the council have introduced a simple form at www.hounslow.gov.uk/houses_multiple_occupation where people can quickly and conveniently send the location of the property.
November 6, 2009