Decision - Private Sector Housing update

Brighton and Hove Housing Committee Decided 16 Mar 2022 for determination GET /api/coverage

Decision maker

Housing Committee

Report author

Sylvia Peckham

Published

17 Mar 2022

Reference

6556

As published

the council's own words, unedited

An update on progress against Enforcement action; Selective licensing consideration and expanding the direct lets scheme and progress considering the scoping of an ethical letting scheme

RESOLVED: 2.1 Housing Committee to note the updates on progress against key elements of the Housing Committee Work Plan objectives to improve the quality and management of homes in the private rented sector as set out in this report. 2.2 Housing Committee to note the review (Appendix 1) of the current national position with regard to selective licensing designations to better understand the current context within which any approvals are being given. 2.3 Housing Committee to delegate authority to the Executive Director for Housing Neighbourhoods and Communities to proceed with commissioning any further consultancy work needed prior to any recommendation to Committee on undertaking any formal consultation on a selective licensing scheme.

Parsed from the document

gpt-5.6-luna-2026-07-09 · 9391/2561 tokens · 17055ms · parsed 9 Sep 2026 11:43

Everything below was read out of a PDF by a model It is useful and it is not authoritative. The document it came from is linked in the rail, and where the two disagree the document is right.

The report considers whether Brighton and Hove City Council should pursue selective licensing in the private rented sector. It concludes that current evidence is insufficient and recommends comprehensive, up-to-date property-level research before deciding whether to proceed.

Recommendation

Undertake further comprehensive evidence gathering, including an updated stock condition survey and ward-by-ward property-level analysis, refresh relevant housing strategies, and use the findings to determine whether to develop and consult on a selective licensing scheme.

Financial impact

No specific budget amount stated; the report says a licensing scheme should generate enough income to meet its administrative costs, although this may not cover all consequential enforcement costs.

Ward affected

city-wide

Decision maker

Councillor

Date in document

1 Mar 2022

Stakeholders named

parsed

Private rentersPrivate landlordsLetting agentsVulnerable residents and familiesBrighton and Hove City CouncilDepartment for Levelling Up, Housing and CommunitiesLocal authoritiesHousing and enforcement partners

Next steps

parsed

Undertake a comprehensive stock condition survey and gather accurate, current property-level evidence by ward.
Update the evidence using the 2021 Census and other relevant datasets.
Review property conditions, deprivation, anti-social behaviour, migration, crime and low housing demand criteria.
Refresh the Housing Strategy, Empty Homes Strategy, ASB Strategy and Private Sector Enforcement Strategy.
Determine whether a selective licensing scheme is justified and, if so, develop designations and consult stakeholders.
Seek Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities approval if the proposed scheme exceeds the 20% threshold.

Precedents

not built

"Decided elsewhere" is not built Finding the same decision in other councils needs semantic matching over decision text, which is part of the search rewrite. Until then, the council's own decisions list is the way through.