Great Yarmouth Borough Council is considering an expansion of its selective licensing scheme to cover around 5,000 privately rented homes in the Nelson, Cobholm and Southtown and Central and Northgate wards – areas identified as among the most deprived in England.
The proposed scheme, if approved, would run for five years and introduce stricter rules to tackle health hazards, overcrowding, poor heating and insulation. It would also enable the council to carry out more property inspections.
The move follows an earlier pilot scheme launched in 2019 targeting Nelson ward, which generated £94,839 in fines from landlords in its first three years. The expanded scheme would be funded through a £784 licence fee for landlords.
Paul Wells, cabinet member for environment and licensing at the council, told Eastern Daily Press: “Most landlords are good ones and want to provide good-quality homes, but sadly not all are. It is not acceptable that they get away with providing substandard accommodation for the people of the borough. We will be better able to tackle health hazards and overcrowding, which is a real problem for some of our residents.”
However, the proposal has faced criticism from the Eastern Landlords Association, with chairman Paul Cunningham describing the move as a “money-grabbing exercise” that could force landlords to increase rents and worsen the local housing shortage. He also argued that the new scheme would duplicate measures already covered by the Renters’ Rights Act.
The council’s cabinet members will meet on 3 June to discuss the policy. The feasibility study supporting the scheme cited 112 complaints about overcrowding in privately rented properties over the past three years.
