Private rentals to be checked more often under plans to crack down on criminal landlords in Peterborough

A company that promises to tackle “the criminal landlords blighting your communities” will carry out housing checks in Peterborough under plans to crack down on poor conditions for private renters.

The Home Safe Scheme Ltd has been named the third-party agency to which Peterborough City Council (PCC) intends to award a contract – worth around £4.4m over five years – for carrying out private property inspections.

PCC announced that it would be partnering with such an agency earlier this year when it unveiled plans to introduce tougher controls on landlords in particular parts of Peterborough.

The areas it has chosen for a new Selective Licensing Scheme (SLS), which allows for increased scrutiny, are in Bretton, Central, East, Fletton and Stanground, Fletton and Woodston, North, Orton Waterville, Park, Pastor and Walton and Stanground South wards.

There are 9,000 houses in these areas – which are believed to be those which will benefit most from the scheme based on their levels of crime, deprivation and current housing conditions – making up around 40 per cent of Peterborough’s private rented stock.

Properties to be checked more often

PCC’s most recent SLS, which covered a broadly similar area, ended in late 2021, leaving a “gap in the regulatory controls in the locality”, a PCC report says.

It was the council itself that undertook compliance checks under this scheme, only managing to visit each property in the SLS area once in the five years it ran.

The Home Safe Scheme, on the other hand, says the level of checks it carries out will be agreed with the council, but that it recommends properties are inspected three times every five years.

On its website, the company says that it can offer local authorities assurance that “your scheme is delivered on time, in budget and with a clear focus on the criminal landlords blighting your communities – without relinquishing your authority or control”.

PCC says that it expects the scheme will be cost neutral; the company will make most of its money by also handling property licence applications from landlords in the area.

In SLS areas, all privately-rented houses require a licence from the council which increases their oversight and allows for greater scrutiny.

The recommendation to award the contract to the Home Safe Scheme is expected to be approved by PCC’s cabinet on Monday, 19th June.

The scheme also needs to be granted permission from the Government before it can be implemented in the city.