Wandsworth Council has carried out 110 inspections and served 40 notices to landlords since launching its licensing schemes in July.
The London council has obtained over 3,400 license functions, together with greater than 1,900 for extra licensing (affecting 3+mattress HMOs) and over 1,500 for selective licensing in Balham South, Furzedown, Tooting Bec, and Tooting Broadway.
Aydin Dikerdem, Wandsworth Council’s cupboard member for housing, mentioned: “These inspections present why licensing issues. The message is evident: unsafe leases is not going to be tolerated.
“These new landlord licencing schemes give us extra strong powers to examine and intervene in instances the place landlords usually are not dwelling as much as their duties, offering renters with extra help and defending their rights.”
Wandworth Council posted examples of instances the place it’s intervened, lots of which concerned hearth dangers.
For instance one Putney property lacked hearth and warmth alarms, whereas one other had a spiral staircase opening to the lounge which posed important escape dangers.
Wandsworth Council has informed landlords to change their properties, and can perform follow-up inspections to ensure they do.
Landlords who function with out appropriate licenses might face prosecution or monetary penalties of as much as £30,000.
In such instances tenants could also be eligible to reclaim 12 months’ lease, housing profit or common credit score.
