Camden Council is consulting on whether to extend its landlord licensing scheme to cover all Houses of Multiple Occupation in the borough, and we at Generation Rent are backing the local tenants' group, Camden Federation of Private Tenants, in supporting the measure.
Please respond to the consultation on the council's website here, or sign our petition below. It would be great if you would also consider joining the Camden Federation too as they have worked for years to defend tenants' rights in the area.
We, the undersigned,
Call for the licensing of all Homes of Multiple Occupation (HMO) landlords in the London Borough of Camden, for the following reasons:
- Over half of tenants in the Borough are unsatisfied with the quality of their home.
- HMO landlords make very significant rental revenues and capital gain, yet often allow their tenants to live in sub-standard conditions.
- The expansion of licensing would provide for pre-licensing inspections of property, support for landlords wishing to improve and the banning from the Borough of those landlords who are unfit to provide this essential service.
- Landlords taking tenants without first having a licence would be liable to pay Rent Repayment Orders, providing an effective financial sanction for those seeking to avoid the licensing regime.
This petition will be submitted to the London Borough of Camden as a response to its public consultation.