Discretionary Licensing in the Private Rented Sector

We are proposing to licence all houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) across the borough – extending the existing scheme to HMOs with 3-4 occupants. We are also proposing to require all rented properties to have a licence (including those let to a single person or family) in 3 areas, Park Redlands and Battle. If the scheme is given the go ahead it will be introduced in phases from 2025.

We want your views on whether this is the right scheme for Reading. We are seeking views on the whole scheme, from its scope through to the details of what should be in the licence conditions if we go ahead and introduce the scheme. We want landlords, tenants and organisations who support them to contribute to our consultation.

Licensing allows the Council to inspect, limit occupation and apply conditions to improve properties and make them safe. If introduced it will be a legal requirement to apply for a licence to operate and landlords or agents can be prosecuted or fined for failing to apply. In certain circumstances to take control of a property. The Act sets the criteria for the Council to consider suitability of the property, management arrangements and to determine whether the landlord is a ‘fit and proper’ person to manage. The Council can charge for a scheme, with licences generally being issued for 5 years and individual licence costs based on cost recovery.

Please read through our additional information and FAQs, the proposed conditions and amenity standards before taking the questionnaire, these contain the details of what the scheme requirements would be. You can also find the stock condition report and the report which explored the case for making licensing designations and the pros and cons of this and other options in the 'Pre consultation information' on this site. The questionnaire also sets out the proposed licence fees and asks about costs of compliance and practical issues that might affect the ability to comply with the proposals.

We had a launch event on 6 June, the slides from the presentation are on this page together with details of further events. We will analyse feedback from these sessions, but the best way to have your say is through the questionnaire.

Responses to the consultation will be analysed before a decision is made on how to proceed. The earliest any scheme would come into force is spring 2025 and we propose to introduce the designations in phases from 2025 to 2029.