Aim 2: Reasons for agreement or disagreement

• Of those who ‘slightly’ or ‘strongly agree’ that licensing will help to effectively regulate HMOs in the private rented sector by identifying an individual responsible for the management and conditions of the property, over a tenth feel it holds landlords accountable and discourages rogue landlords (14%) and it protects tenants and ensures consistent, better living conditions (11%)
• Of those who ‘neither agree nor disagree’ that licensing will help to meet this aim, just under a tenth feel property standards should be monitored on an individual basis (9%) or feel they do not have enough knowledge about the situation/ are indifferent (9%)
• Around 15% of respondents who ‘slightly’ or ‘strongly disagree’ that licensing will help to effectively regulate HMOs in the private rented sector by identifying an individual responsible for the management and conditions of the property feel that the council should already be able to meet these aims without additional licensing (16%), the council does not have the resources to adequately enforce or regulate this (14%), and that additional licensing will unfairly raise costs for tenants and landlords who are currently meeting the standards (14%)

This table shows the most common themes around why respondents ‘slightly’ or ‘strongly agree’ that licensing will help to meet Aim 2: ‘To effectively regulate HMOs in the private rented sector by identifying an individual responsible for the management and conditions of the property, ensuring consistency of standards across the city for HMOs in the private rented sector’:
14% of respondents feel it holds landlords accountable and discourages rogue landlords
11% of respondents feel it protects tenant and ensures consistent, better living conditions
10% of respondents feel it identifies someone responsible and enables them to be held accountable to meet standards
8% of respondents feel it provides a contact point to raise issues and makes landlords identifiable
7% of respondents feel HMOs should be regulated and licensing enforced properly
4% of respondents feel general agreement with the objective of the aim
8% of respondents give other comments
45% of respondents give no comment

This table shows the most common themes around why respondents ‘neither agree nor disagree’ that licensing will help to meet Aim 2: ‘To effectively regulate HMOs in the private rented sector by identifying an individual responsible for the management and conditions of the property, ensuring consistency of standards across the city for HMOs in the private rented sector’:
9% of respondents feel property standards should be monitored on an individual basis
9% of respondents feel they do not have enough knowledge about the situation/ are indifferent
7% of respondents feel decent landlords will be penalised and rogue ones will evade the system
7% of respondents feel concern about adequacy of enforcement and regulation
7% of respondents have general issues with HMOs (not addressed by licensing)
5% of respondents feel uncertain about the correlation between licensing and outcome of the aim
9% of respondents give other comments
48% of respondents give no comment

This table shows the most common themes around why respondents ‘slightly’ or ‘strongly disagree’ that licensing will help to meet Aim 2: ‘To effectively regulate HMOs in the private rented sector by identifying an individual responsible for the management and conditions of the property, ensuring consistency of standards across the city for HMOs in the private rented sector’:
16% of respondents feel the council should already be able to meet these aims without additional licensing
14% of respondents feel the council does not have the resources to adequately enforce or regulate this
14% of respondents feel additional licensing will unfairly raise costs for tenants and landlords currently meeting the standards
11% of respondents feel previous schemes have been unsuccessful
9% of respondents feel rogue landlords will not register for the scheme and fly under the radar
7% of respondents feel you cannot apply a blanket approach to all HMOs
6% of respondents feel general opposition to HMOs/ increased number of HMOs in city
11% of respondents give other comments
22% of respondents give no comment