Agenda item

(A)         The Committee was addressed by Mr Martin Wilson.  Mr Wilson explained that he had made a similar deputation to the Housing and Environment Committee in 2013 when the surplus on the HMO account, which had been built up over a number of years, was proposed to be reduced over a 2 year period. At that time he had proposed that the surplus be run down over 3 years rather than 2 years and that it be effected by a discount to the renewal fee.  The rationale for the discount being applied to renewals was that only renewals were affected by the higher fees some 3 years earlier.

Mr Wilson noted that the current proposal being put forward proposed to reduce the discount for renewals to £95  (3-5 tenants).  He advised that he quoted the 3-5 tenant figures for convenience but that the proposal would affect all renewal discounts, albeit by different amounts.  Mr Wilson stated that in the last two years the renewal fee discount had been set at £275 and £245.  He added that the proposal to reduce the discount this year to £95 would not provide the same level of discount to those affected by high HMO fees in the year 2012-13 when the fee was £550 and 3 years previously in 2009-10 £1000.  He advised that 2009-2010 was the year (2009-10) in which the largest surplus was raised on the account and drew members’ attention to a slide which demonstrated the amounts.  Mr Wilson advised that the ratio of new applications to renewals had remained steady at approximately 1:2 and was forecast to remain at that ratio for the next year. Therefore he suggested that any £1 decrease in the renewal fee could be matched by a £2 increase in the new application fee to maintain revenue levels.

Mr Wilson noted that the proposal for the 2015-16 fees was for renewals to be set at £400 and new applications to be set at £495.  He suggested what he considered to be an alternative, fairer fee structure for 2015-16, which preserved the intent of the original proposal in 2013.  Mr Wilson added that he believed the fee income would be the same if the fees were £350 and £595, with the £50 reduction in renewals being offset by the £100 increase for new applications. The difference between the two fees would be £245, a level of discount similar to that of the last 2 years (£275 and £245).  He believed this would maintain the fairness of the original proposal in the final year of the 3 year period.  Mr Wilson added that other fee levels for different size HMOs would be adjusted in the same manner and concluded by asking the Committee to consider accepting his alternative proposal.

There being no questions from Members in relation to the deputation, the Convener thanked Mr Wilson for his contribution.

(B)         The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which sought approval to set revised HMO Licensing fees from 1 April 2015.

The report recommended:-

that Committee implement the new HMO Licence fee structure for 2015/2016 as set out in the following table as from 1 April 2015:-

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.