Landlord licensing win for Withington

11.29.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 31st Mar 2009

Councillor Simon Wheale and local resident Rob Mackle welcome the consultation plans.

John Leech MP and Liberal Democrat Councillors in Withington are celebrating after persuading the City Council's Executive Committee to agree to begin a consultation on introducing an additional licensing scheme for landlords of Houses in Multiple Occupation in the Withington Ward.

It has been agreed that consultation on an additional licensing scheme, which could extend landlord licensing to many smaller Houses in Multiple Occupation in the Withington Ward, will begin before the end of April 2009.

John Leech, Member of Parliament for Manchester Withington, added "I will be encouraging as many people as possible to positively support the City Council's proposal for an additional landlord licensing scheme in the Withington Ward. I will also be working with Councillors Simon Wheale, Alison Firth and Brendon Jones in calling for the scheme to cover Houses in Multiple Occupation across the Withington Ward."

Withington Ward Liberal Democrat Councillor Simon Wheale, who spoke at the Council's Executive Committee meeting in support of the consultation, said:

"This is a great step forward for residents in the Withington Ward. We have had a licensing scheme for landlords of larger Houses in Multiple Occupation for some time now. The scheme gives the City Council greater powers to intervene with landlords when Houses in Multiple Occupation are being poorly managed. This can help local residents affected by disamenity or nuisance from Houses in Multiple Occupation. A licensing scheme also gives greater protection to tenants affected by low standards of management and maintenance.

The good news is that the City Council will now start the process of consulting on an additional licensing scheme to extend the existing licensing scheme to smaller Houses in Multiple Occupation in the Withington Ward. We have been calling for this move for a long time.

Local residents will soon be asked if they support such a licensing scheme being introduced. I strongly urge Withington Ward residents to look out for the Consultation Forms and to back additional licensing for the Withington Ward in their responses."

Old Moat Ward campaigner Rob Mackle called for concrete action after a similar consultation was carried out in Old Moat last year. "There needs to be greater scrutiny of HMOs, this scheme would ensure that large groups of people renting privately - especially students, will get added protection from problem landlords. The scheme would hopefully also limit the number of HMOs, which have grown exponentially recently with little or no consultation. We would see a reduction in the disruption high density housing can bring."

ENDS