Notice

The Local Housing Authority (“Brighton & Hove City Council”) in exercise of its powers under Section 80(1) of the Housing Act 2004 (“the Act 2004”) hereby designates for selective licensing the area described in paragraph 4.

Citation, commencement and duration

  1. This designation may be cited as the Brighton & Hove City Council Designation for an Area for Selective Licensing 2024.
  2. The Designation has been made under the general approval granted under Section 82 of the Act 2004 and was approved by Brighton & Hove City Council on 13 March 2024. The Designation shall come into force on 2 September 2024.
  3. The Designation will cease to have effect on 1 September 2029 (not more than five years) or earlier if the authority revokes the scheme under Section 84 of the Act 2004.

Area to which the designation applies

  1. This Designation will apply to the wards Kemp Town, Moulsecoomb & Bevendean, Queens Park and Whitehawk & Marina of Brighton & Hove City Council, as shown on the map in Annex A. 

Application of the designation

  1. The Designation will apply to any house [1] which is let or occupied under a tenancy or licence within the area described in paragraph 4., unless:
    1. The house is a house in multiple occupation (“HMO”) that falls within the nationally prescribed category of HMO that is required to be licensed as a ‘Mandatory HMO’ under Section 55 (2)(a) Part 2 of the Act 2004 [2];
    2. The house is an HMO that falls within the prescribed category of HMO that is required to be licensed under the Brighton & Hove City Council, Citywide Additional HMO Licensing Scheme made under Section 56 of the Act 2004 [3];
    3. The tenancy or licence of the house has been granted by a Registered Social Landlord [4];
    4. The house is subject to an Interim or Final Management Order under Part 4 of the Act 2004;
    5. The House is subject to a temporary exemption under Section 86 of the Act 2004; or
    6. The House is occupied under a described tenancy or licence which has been exempted by the national authority by order under Section 79 (4)(a) of the Act 2004 as defined in Annex B.

Effect of the designation

  1. Subject to sub paragraphs 5 a to f, every house in the area specified in paragraph 4 that is occupied under a tenancy or licence shall be required to be licensed under Section 85 of the Act 2004.
  2. This Designation falls within the description of designations for which the Secretary of State has issued a General Approval dated 26 March 2015 and which came into force 1 April 2015. 
  3. Brighton & Hove City Council will comply with the notification requirements contained in Section 83 of the Act 2004 and shall maintain a register of all properties licensed under this Designation, as required under Section 232 of the Act 2004 [5].

All landlords, managing agents or tenants within the designated area of Brighton & Hove City Council should obtain advice to ascertain whether their property is affected by the Designation by contacting the Council’s Private Sector Housing Team.

On 2 September 2024 applications for licences will be made available online at Brighton & Hove City Council. Please contact the Council’s Private Sector Housing Team if you are a landlord, managing agent or a tenant and require:

  • information on if your property is affected by this scheme
  • advice about the Designation and licensing
  • advice on private sector housing

Our address is Private Sector Housing, Brighton and Hove City Council, Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, Hove, BN3 3BQ.

You can also:

The Designation may be inspected at the above address 9am to 4.30pm weekdays. Please make an appointment with the Private Sector Housing Team before visiting.

Upon the Designation coming into force on 2 September 2024 a person who operates a licensable property without a licence is liable to prosecution and on summary conviction to an unlimited fine. 

A person who fails to comply with a condition of a licence is liable upon summary conviction to an unlimited fine. 

The Council, as an alternative to initiating a prosecution, may pursue one or more of a range of other enforcement actions including the imposition of a financial penalty of up to £30,000 and/or taking management control of the unlicensed property. 

In addition, where an offence has been committed an application may also be made by the Council and/or tenant under provisions of Section 96 and 97 of the Act 2004 for a Rent Repayment Order to pay back up to 12 months’ rent, Housing Benefit or Universal Credit.  

Furthermore, it will not be possible to serve an eviction notice under Section 21 of Housing Act 1988 on tenants of an unlicensed licensable property. [6]

Signed:

Jess Gibbons, Chief Executive

Brighton & Hove City Council

Hove Town Hall, Norton Road

Hove BN3 3BQ

 

19 March 2024

 

Footnotes

[1] For the definition of “house” see Section 79 and Section 99 of the Act 2004

[2] Section 55 of the Act 2004 defines which HMOs are required to be licensed under the Act 2004.  See also The Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Prescribed Descriptions) (England) Order 2018 (SI 2018 No. 221).

[3] The Citywide Additional HMO Licensing Scheme covers HMOs of two or more storeys with three or four occupants. 

This Scheme is not within scope of the Mandatory HMO Licensing Scheme. Brighton & Hove City Council is not licensing Section 257 HMO buildings (Section 257 of the Act 2004) under the Additional HMO Licensing Scheme.

Individual flats in those buildings would require a Selective Licence, assuming they are occupied by a single household.  

Individual flats in those buildings which are single storey HMO flats with three or four occupants would also require a Selective Licence. 

Individual HMO flats in those buildings of two or more storeys with three or four occupants would require an Additional HMO Licence. 

Individual HMO flats in those buildings with five or more occupants, regardless of the number of storeys, would require a Mandatory HMO Licence.  

[4] Section 79 (3) of the Act 2004.  For the definition of a Registered Social Landlord see Part 1 of the Housing Act 1996. 

[5] Section 232 of the Act 2004 and Regulation 11 of The Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation and Other Houses (Miscellaneous Provisions) (England) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006 No. 373)

[6] Section 98 of the Act 2004

Annex A: Brighton& Hove Selective Licensing Designation

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A ward map of Brighton & Hove highlighting the 4 wards where the Selective Licensing designation will apply. The wards are Queens Park, Kemptown, Moulsecoomb & Bevandean, and Whitehawk & Marina

Annex B: Described tenancies or licences which have been exempted by the national authority in The Selective Licensing of Houses (Specified Exemptions) (England) Order 2006 (SI 2006 No. 370)

Exempt tenancies or licences for the purposes of Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004

2.1

A tenancy or licence of a house or a dwelling contained in a house [1] is an exempt tenancy or licence for the purposes of Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004 (“the Act”) if it falls within any of the following descriptions:

  • (a) a tenancy or licence of a house or dwelling that is subject to a prohibition order made under section 20 of the Act whose operation has not been suspended in  accordance with section 23 of the Act; 
  • (b) a tenancy described in any of the following provisions of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Housing Act 1988, which cannot be an assured tenancy by virtue of section 1(2) of that Act:
    • (i) paragraph 4 (business tenancies);
    • (ii) paragraph 5 (licensed premises) [2];
    • (iii) paragraph 6 (tenancies of agricultural land); or 
    • (iv) paragraph 7 (tenancies of agricultural holdings etc) [3];
  • (c) a tenancy or licence of a house or a dwelling that is managed or controlled by:
    • (i) a local housing authority;
    • (ii) a police authority established under section 3 of the Police Act 1996;
    • (iii) the Metropolitan Police Authority established under section 5B of the Police Act 1996;
    • (iv) a fire and rescue authority under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004; or 
    • (v) a health service body within the meaning of section 4 of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990; 
  • (d) a tenancy or licence of a house which is not a house in multiple occupation for any purposes of the Act (except Part 1) by virtue of:
    • (i) paragraph 3 of Schedule 14 to the Act (buildings regulated otherwise than under the Act); or
    • (ii) paragraph 4(1) of that Schedule (buildings occupied by students) [4]; 
  • (e) a tenancy of a house or a dwelling where:
    • (i) the full term of the tenancy is more than 21 years;
    • (ii) the lease does not contain a provision enabling the landlord to determine the tenancy, other than by forfeiture, earlier than at end of the term; and
    • (iii) the house or dwelling is occupied by a person to whom the tenancy was granted or his successor in title or any members of such person’s family;
  • (f) a tenancy or licence of a house or a dwelling granted by a person to a person who is a member of his family where:
    • (i) the person to whom the tenancy or licence is granted occupies the house or dwelling as his only or main residence; 
    • (ii) the person granting the tenancy or licence is the freeholder or the holder of a lease of the house or dwelling the full term of which is more than 21 years; and 
    • (iii) the lease referred to in sub-paragraph (ii) does not contain a provision enabling the landlord to determine the tenancy, other than by forfeiture, earlier than at end of the term;
  • (g) a tenancy or licence that is granted to a person in relation to his occupancy of a house or a dwelling as a holiday home; or
  • (h) a tenancy or licence under the terms of which the occupier shares any accommodation with the landlord or licensor or a member of the landlord’s or licensor’s family.

2.2

For the purposes of this article:

  • (a) a person is a member of the same family as another person if:
    • (i) those persons live as a couple;
    • (ii) one of them is the relative of the other; or
    • (iii) one of them is, or is a relative of, one member of a couple and the other is a relative of the other member of the couple;
  • (b) “couple” means two persons who are married to each other or live together as husband and wife (or in an equivalent relationship in the case of persons of the same sex);
  • (c) “relative” means parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or cousin;
  • (d) a relationship of the half-blood is to be treated as a relationship of the whole blood;
  • (e) a stepchild of a person is to be treated as his child;
  • (f) an occupier shares accommodation with another person if he has the use of an amenity in common with that person (whether or not also in common with others); and
  • (g) “amenity” includes a toilet, personal washing facilities, a kitchen or a living room but excludes any area used for storage, a staircase, corridor or other means of access.

 

Footnotes

[1] For the meaning of house see section 99 of the Act

[2] Paragraph 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Housing Act 1988 has been amended by section 198(1) and paragraph 108 of Schedule 6 to the Licensing Act 2003

[3] Paragraph 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Housing Act 1988 has been amended by section 40 and paragraph 34 of the Schedule to the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995

[4] See section 254(5) of the Act 2004