The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director (Neighbourhoods and Environment) setting out the draft policy for the use of civil penalties for certain specified offences under the Housing Act 2004.

Resolved:

That the Civil Penalties Policy for Housing Offences, set out at Appendix 1 to the submitted report, with the implementation date of 1^st April 2022, be approved.

Reasons for decision:

The adoption of a Civil Penalties policy provides a transparent and consistent approach to the regulation of the private sector housing market.

Other options:

The alternative option would be to disregard the powers made available to the Council.  This would reduce the tools available to Officers to enforce against rogue landlords who knowingly rent out unsafe and substandard accommodation and may harm the reputation of the Council in regulation of the private rented sector.

Note: This is an Executive Function

Eligible for call-in to: Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee

Cabinet Member: Cllr Gilbert