Consultation on extending Additional Licensing Scheme in Nottingham

Nottingham City Council have launched a consultation about extending their Additional HMO licensing scheme for a further five years. The current scheme is due to end in January 2024.

The consultation is open between 1st March 2023 and 24th may 2023.

The Additional Licensing Scheme was introduced by the council in 2018 to improve the quality of HMOs in the city and ensure that they meet certain standards of safety and management. The scheme requires all HMOs with three or more unrelated tenants in certain areas of the city to have an additional license. This is the third time the council have consulted on an Additional Licensing scheme, and, unlike with selective licensing schemes, they don’t need to seek approval from central government, so it is very likely that the scheme will be implemented regardless of the responses to the consultation.

According to figures published in the consultation, only 719 internal inspection have been carried out, out of 1,770 properties licensed under this scheme, just 41%.

During the current scheme, NCC report 10 prosecutions for non compliance, 25 civil penalty notices issued, 92 improvement notices, 56 prohibition orders and 66 hazard awareness notices.

The Additional Licensing Scheme is one of three schemes run by Nottingham City Council.

Mandatory HMO Licensing: National Scheme introduced in 2006, applies to privately rented properties shared by five or more people from more than one household.

Additional HMO Licensing: First introduced in certain parts of Nottingham in 2014, this scheme applies to privately rented properties shared by three or more people from more than one household.

Selective Licensing: Introduced in certain parts of Nottingham from 1st August 2018, applies to private rented properties with one household.

The selective licensing scheme covers all wards in the city:

Standard fees are £1,330 per property.