Broxtowe Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Register and its missing entries.

Today I received an updated copy of Broxtowe's HMO Register and I had been expecting to see a flood of new registrations given, to quote the Council's own website, that 'From 1st October 2018 all HMO's with five or more occupiers forming two or more households regardless of the number of storeys will be subject to HMO licencing. If you own or manage a HMO that meets the criteria for mandatory licencing you must apply for a licence before 1st October 2018'.

I think the above is pretty clear by any measure, yet here we are, over three months later, and just 2 two storey households have been registered! In the absence of an answer to the question how many applications there are outstanding I assume there are none, although I have data from another Council department which suggests there could be a great many unregistered properties with five or more occupiers which should have applied for HMO registration and haven't.

Nottingham city Council say they backdate applications, yet Broxtowe says a ‘renewal cannot be backdated’ despite acknowledging that applications are received without supporting documentation. If landlords/agents know this is Broxtowe’s policy then many will submit incomplete applications! For them it’s a win win situation which involves people has to involve Council employees in more work! As a policy it doesn’t make any sense!

HMO Registration is just one part of a jigsaw Broxtowe Borough Council has, in my opinion, wilfully ignored despite the cost and the extra burden this places upon the wider community.

It is beyond my comprehension as to why there have not been reports to the Council about the matter. Why have so many councillors chosen to ignore the problem?

These are questions which need answers!

I will be disappointed if I cannot do a post on Friday as to income lost because of council tax exemptions and a lax HMO registration p[olicy.

Watch this space.