Over 5,000 privately rented homes in Islington must now be registered for a licence to ensure their tenants have good quality housing – or their landlords will face prosecution.
All private landlords in Finsbury Park, Tollington and Hillrise wards – where there are particular problems with poor conditions – now need to sign up and ensure their homes are up to scratch, after Islington Council’s expanded licensing scheme came into effect on Monday 20 May.
Nearly a third of homes in Islington are privately rented, and the council is committed to standing alongside private renters to make sure they have a safe place to call home.
EXPANDED SCHEME
The new expanded scheme, which replaces a previous scheme covering only Finsbury Park (main picture), was announced last July. Since then, the council has been preparing to launch the scheme, including publicising it to landlords. Now, landlords who fail to sign up or meet licence conditions may face an unlimited fine or a criminal conviction.
Equally, the scheme will help level the playing field for responsible landlords, making sure rogue landlords who save money by dodging maintenance and renting out low-quality homes are held to account.
HUGE PRESSURE
Una OHalloranCllr Una O’Halloran, Executive Member for Homes and Neighbourhoods, says: “Everyone in Islington should have a safe, decent and genuinely affordable place to call home. Private renters are under huge pressure, now more than ever, and we’re determined to stand alongside them.
“While most of Islington’s landlords are responsible and take good care of people’s homes, we hear from hundreds of renters who don’t feel safe or listened to, while their rents go up and up. This new scheme will make sure they have the protection, and the homes, they deserve.
“If you’re a landlord in Finsbury Park, Tollington and Hillrise and you haven’t already signed up, make sure you apply now.”
