Lincoln’s Trusted Landlords. A proposal for accreditation in Lincoln

The Executive Committee at City of Lincoln Council has given its support to the development of an umbrella accreditation scheme for the City. The aim of the scheme is to support those landlords who want to run their business professionally and it is based around existing initiatives making it easier to enrol, understand and promote. Incentives are being built into the scheme and the next stage is to complete the detail to test with the partner organisations and within the workshop groups.

Landlords and letting agents operating within Lincoln will be aware of the growth of private rented housing within the city with the sector now being bigger than the council’s own housing stock. This has brought a number of pressures and in 2014 the council were seriously considering introducing additional licensing for houses in multiple occupation. Although it ultimately decided against this the council was keen to adopt an accreditation scheme as an alternative approach. After a great deal of study, research and engagement with landlords, letting agents and community groups a proposed scheme was put out to consultation throughout November and December 2015.

There was a disappointingly low response to the consultation which could potentially be attributed to the allied work on Article 4 that was being undertaken at the same time. However, the proposal and the preliminary findings of the consultation were presented to the Council’s Executive committee on 25 January and was supported.

The proposal is that the council will work to promote existing schemes such as those run by the National Landlords Association, the Residential Landlords Association and DASH (Decent and Safe Homes). There will be a requirement that 10% of the landlords portfolio that is based in Lincoln must be inspected.

The details will now be refined and could include incentives such as:

·         Reduced HMO licence fees

·         Fast track for HMO licence applications

·         A more hands-off approach to enforcement where there is “earned recognition”

·         Involvement of landlords with the work of the council only if they are Trusted Landlords

The proposal is to complete all this work by the end of April 2016 for submission to the Executive Committee for approval and adoption of the scheme.

For further information contact Alan Jones, Private Housing Team Leader: 01522 873791

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