A statement from Coventry council says it is set to extend is HMO licensing regimes when they are considered for renewal.

Councillors will meet to discuss extending an Additional Licensing Scheme in the city for a further five years so it will run until 2030.

The scheme gives the council extra powers above the national scheme that all councils must follow for houses shared by five or more people from more than one household. This includes the power to insist on improved standards and challenge and ultimately enforce against those who fail to do so.

The proposal follows a consultation earlier this year which – in the council’s words – “showed that landlords and tenants were in favour of the tougher measures continuing.”

A spokesperson for the authority says: “Local people I talk to have strong feelings about the impact and standard of HMOs in neighbourhoods throughout the city. That is why we have an additional licensing scheme, and we try to work with landlords to raise standards. This is about helping landlords, protecting tenants and taking action on behalf of communities.

“I want to stress that there are lots of good quality landlords running HMOs in Coventry and this scheme recognises those landlords as well as identifying those who need to make improvements.

“There has been a lot of good work over the past four years, but there is still more to do and extending the scheme will allow us to be more proactive and to challenge bad landlords and let them know they must improve standards or face enforcement action.

“It is estimated that Coventry has the 14th highest number of HMOs in England and Wales. A report published by the National Residential Landlords Association found that between 2021 and 2023 Coventry City Council was the top ranked authority for HMO related civil penalties (193) and third for issuing civil penalties in all private sector rented properties (207).

“We look forward to continuing our work to improve the city’s housing and ensuring rented properties are safe and happy homes for tenants and do not have a negative impact on neighbours and communities.”