Camden Council has announced new licensing conditions for landlords of shared accommodation.

The council has established the new conditions following a public consultation, which received some 1,400 responses with 70% of those backing the council proposals.

The council said that the scheme would benefit more than 20,000 tenants by improving standards of privately-rented, shared housing – properties known as HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation).

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This will provide people with more rights and improved living standards. It will also enable landlords to run better businesses.

Landlords of an estimated 8,000 homes will be required to apply for the five-year licence. Terms include their properties meeting a set of standards, plus a licence fee.

A statement released by the council states:

"A third of Camden households live in privately rented homes, and we estimate over 30% of these live in shared housing.

"We found two in five of these homes we surveyed had a serious or other health and safety issue, such as fire hazards, risk of falls, poor home security and excess cold – which is known to cause mould and damp.

"Licensing will tackle poor conditions like these, provide decent housing and strengthen tenants’ rights when challenging poor landlords."

The scheme will come into effect on 8 December this year.

(MH)