A market research company is to go door-to-door to seek residents’ views as part of a council’s consultation on landlord licensing.

MEL Research, on behalf of Sefton council on Merseyside, will be calling at properties in the Bootle area  in a pilot project.

Earlier this month, the council launched a 12-week consultation on extending its Selective and Additional HMO Licensing schemes for private rented homes and multi-occupancy properties, online. 

Since licensing was introduced in 2018, Sefton council claims that serious health and safety hazards have been removed from over 300 licensed properties. These included fire safety, electrical hazards, damp and mould, and excess cold.

Over 80 landlords have received Civil Penalty Fines for failing to licence their properties and while 60 per cent of the properties inspected under licensing did not initially meet the required housing standards, 98 per cent of these were subsequently improved.

A spokeswoman for the council says:  “Introducing the current licencing schemes has enabled Sefton Council to work with private landlords in the areas covered to improve their standards of management.

“This, in turn, has resulted in improved living conditions for their tenants as well as improvements for the wider areas, such as reduced anti-social behaviour.

“By extending the scheme for a further five years, we want to build on this success and bring about further benefits for landlords, tenants and those communities.”