Appendix 1: Summary of PRS licensing feasibility study

Important Note:

The Feasibility Study will provide the evidence which will be the basis for determining whether Selective Licensing and/or Additional Licensing is recommended to be progressed in Brighton & Hove. At the time of the Private Sector Housing Update report to January 2023 Housing Committee, this had not been signed-off. Therefore, findings could not be included within the body of the report.

This appendix provides an overview of the initial data. This does not represent a final position and therefore cannot be the basis of any conclusions or recommendations at this stage.

The final report is expected by the end of January and will be the basis of the Housing Committee Member Workshop referred to in the report.

Since September 2022 the council has been collating a range of council data sets for Metastreet (the contractor working with Cadence who are leading on the study) to analyse. This will determine whether evidence thresholds are met for possible discretionary licensing schemes.  This analysis has been completed on the new ward boundaries which (subject to parliamentary approval) will be in place for May 2023 elections and would apply to any new scheme that is introduced.

This initial analysis has determined that three of the 23 wards in the city do not have sufficient levels of private rented homes to be considered for a selective licensing scheme. It has also ruled out various grounds, including ASB, as the prevalence levels are not sufficient. 

However, it has highlighted poor property conditions as a theme based on prediction of the level of category 1 and 2 hazards that might exist in the Wards. Analysis was for both Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and other private rented homes, so could support both an Additional HMO Licensing Scheme and/or a Selective Licensing Scheme for other private rented homes.  

The analysis also highlighted deprivation levels in some wards in the city may be an additional ground to consider as they are in the 30% more deprived wards in the country.

At the time of writing this report a further review of the data is in progress to enable a final report to be produced.  This includes

· Reviewing data against the ONS Census 2021 figures released on 5 January 2023 and adjusting and/or accounting for any discrepancies

· Reviewing Local Super Output Areas against new wards to cross reference deprivation data

· Assessing other sources of evidence, such as employment, education, health statistics to build the evidence base for a potential scheme on deprivation grounds

· Producing separate tables for HMOs and other private rented homes on category 1 and 2 hazards in support of different schemes

· Further validation work against the data to ensure that it is tested and checked which will enable the council to have a strong confidence level in the data.

The full feasibility report will be produced by Cadence in late January ahead of the Members workshop to review options for future discretionary licensing schemes in early February. 

Options for possible schemes to go out to consultation will then be considered at Housing Committee in March 2023.