Landlords who let their properties fall into a poor state of repair may find themselves charged by the council in the future, if an enforcement notice has to be issued against them.
Cabinet Members last night (Thursday 5 November) agreed the plan, which would see landlords being charged when improvement notices, prohibition orders, emergency prohibition orders or demolition orders are issued or emergency remedial action is taken.
Charges will be made on a case-by-case basis, with officer time charged for on a minute-by-minute basis. With improvement notices, a demand will only be issued, if the notice is not complied with.
Surveys of other Kent authorities show that a number are already charging for these services, with others considering introducing similar charges.
Between April and August 2009, the council’s Housing Improvement Team served 17 improvement notices, one prohibition order and six emergency prohibition orders. If these had been charged for, the total fees due would be around £13,000.
Tanya Wenham, Housing Improvement Manager, said: “Thanet has one of the largest stocks of privately rented homes in south east England and, where landlords fail to keep their properties maintained to acceptable standards, it can take our team many hours to deal with the resulting problems. Introducing these charges should act as a deterrent to landlords allowing their properties to fall into disrepair. It’s only right that landlords should be the ones footing the bill for this work, rather than the ordinary Council Tax payer.”
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