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05/02/09 : "One of our budget priorities is tackling HMO's" says Labour :
Action to address the serious challenges of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO's), particularly in central and east Reading, is one of the few growth items in the 2009-10 budget Labour Leader Jo Lovelock will be putting before Reading Borough Council on 24 February.
The move follows the publication last October of a Labour Party policy document Tackling rogue landlords, Meeting students' needs which put forward a 12-point plan to respond to residents' concerns, and a student petition sponsored by Anneliese Dodds, Labour candidate for Reading East.
Deputy Leader of the Council Tony Page, who was one of those who worked on the plan, says: "We have a backlog on HMO inspections, and we are proposing to employ two more Enforcement Officers to deal with that and to improve co-ordination between Planning and Environmental Health across all private sector housing issues. We have also found funding to employ a project officer to review and revive the Landlord Accreditation scheme which is intended to offer students accommodation which has been checked out to be safe and secure."
He adds: "These additional resources will allow us to make real progress on this issue, and to work with Reading University, Thames Valley University, the Berkshire Landlords Forum to improve the quality both of student and other private sector housing and the general environment.
"We felt it important to include the money in the budget now, but if the scrutiny review which is just starting comes up with other ideas we will obviously be happy to look at those when the time comes."
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