Mandatory Licensing for HMOs is extended

Landlords across Bath and North East Somerset are being reminded that from 1^st October all houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), with five or more occupants in two or more households, must be licenced.

http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/services/housing/houses-multiple-occupation/licensing-houses-multiple-occupation

The new licensing requirement has been introduced nationwide. Landlords or agents responsible for HMOs that fall under the new definition will be committing a criminal offence if they fail to apply for a licence or a temporary exemption by the deadline.

Private rental properties account of almost a third of all housing in the district. All tenants should be able to live in safe and well managed properties and HMO licensing helps ensure standards are met and maintained.

We are pleased that Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Cabinet has extended the Licensing scheme agreeing a proposal to extend the scope of licensing to cover HMOs which house three or four people in two or more separate households in Bath City.  Further details on the additional licensing scheme will be released in the coming months.

Between the two schemes an estimated 3,000 HMOs will be covered by licensing; 1,000 through mandatory licensing and 2,000 through additional licensing.

Failing to have an HMO licence is a criminal offence and is liable on summary conviction to an unlimited fine or a civil penalty of up to £30,000 per offence.

The other consequences of operating an unlicensed HMO are a restriction on using section 21 of the Housing Act to serve a notice seeking possession and a rent repayment order to recover up to 12 months’ rent. Where there is no realistic prospect of licensing the property the Council may also make an Interim Management Order to take over management of the property.

To apply for a licence and find out more visit the Council’s Housing Services website at  http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/hmoapp

Be prepared for traffic Chaos

Residents in Twerton and Whiteway should be prepared for several weeks of traffic problems getting to work and back home again.

Residents for a number if weeks now have been experiencing problems with delayed buses and problems waiting in traffic lines for long periods. Much of the problems have been Road works on various Roads in Bath that have been affecting All Bus routes in the City.

It seems that just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Well its going to as the Lower Bristol Road is going to be resurfaced in several sections at a time and works will also be taking place on the Upper Bristol Road.

Roads will be closed from 7pm at night till the morning starting on 1st October all buses will be diverted during these hours but will also face disruption in the day time me so please be prepared and adjust your travelling  times.

Works in other locations will also add to travel misery.

Please follow the link to find out more this relates to work starting 1st October.

We will publish more as information comes available.

http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/services/streets-and-highway-maintenance/roadworks/temporary-traffic-regulation-order-notices-31

It's good to talk

We have been out talking with residents in Landseer Road recently and have picked up on various issues in the area including anti-social behaviour, broken, dangerous drain covers and street lights that do not work at night, all of which have been reported for repair.

The residents in Landseer Road have also taken ownership of their street by clearing up the streets, planting flowers and shrubs and even installing a seat so they can sit out talking with each other.

We are out in Twerton all year round talking with residents to ensure their voices are heard.

Residents often say they do not know who to talk to about issues  in their community, especially if their landlord, housing association or council are not listening to them and we are keen to make sure everyone across Twerton know we are here all year around, but also make it clear what local Councillors can actually do for them.

A lot of issues raised are things that are down to central government and locally elected individuals have very limited capacity to help, but without being asked we cannot direct people to the correct people that could help.

We also find with the rapid cuts and constant changes in services, residents feel they no longer get value for money from their taxes.

Please do look out for us in your street and don't be afraid to stop us and have a chat, we are keen to make Twerton the best community it can be.

Keep safe take the advice get your gas appliances checked.

After the long hot summer this year its now time to focus on preparing for winter – and we’re urging everyone to take just five simple steps to make sure winter doesn’t catch them out: 

1.       Get gas appliances safety checked by a Gas Safe Registered Engineer – this should be done every year. 

2.       Keep your eye on your appliances: Flames on your cooker and boiler should be crisp and blue, and no sooty black marks on or around any gas appliances.

3.       Make sure you have an audible carbon monoxide (CO) alarm: it might save your life and save you from the debilitating side effects of CO poisoning.

4.       Know the signs of CO poisoning: a headache is the most common but also dizziness, feeling sick, tiredness & confusion, stomach pain and shortness of breath.  The symptoms are flu-like without the high temperature – but very high levels can kill almost instantly.

5.       Save the National Gas Emergency Number 0800 111 999 in your phone so you can call it immediately if you smell gas or suspect the presence of CO.

Mixed planning results at Development Control Committee

97 Sheridan Road

We are pleased to be able to inform residents that the controversial planning application to convert 97 Sheridan Road into an HMO has been turned down by Bath & North East Somerset Council's Development Control Committee on 29th August.

Twerton Councillor Tim Ball who addressed the meeting had referred the item to the committee after receiving numerous comments from residents concerning the scale of the application.

The application was rejected on the grounds of the amount of parking problems that it would cause and on road safety issues and also causing residential harm to the area. Members of the committee expressed concern that this property formerly a 3 bedroomed family home was to become a six bed HMO.

99 Sheridan Road

This application was for a four bedroomed HMO although we laid the same concerns as 97 Sheridan Road, members of the Development Control Committee approved the application as they thought that the scale of the development was less of a problem.

We have also asked for an urgent policy review on how the number of current HMO units are counted by the planning department.

If you have concerns about any planning application, then please let us know as without your input we are powerless to be able to help.

Two planning applications to report one variation of use one HMO

1) Freedom House , Lower Bristol Road, Twerton, Bath, BA2 1EP

This application is to formalise car parking arrangements to the rear of Freedom House and so they can share the carparking they have with Curo, and it their words stop parking over spilling on to local Roads.

Please follow this link to view or comment on this application.

2) 2 Windrush Close, Whiteway, Bath, Bath And North East Somerset, BA2 1PL
Change of use from 3 bed dwelling house (use class C3) to 5 bed house in multiple occupation (use class C4)

Please follow this link to view or comment on this application. 

Dogs mess Twerton High Street

I have been receiving rather a lot of complaints from residents about the amount of dogs mess that there is on Twerton High Street that is being caused by just a few dogs.

I have asked that the dogs mess is cleared up and that the culprits the dog owners are caught and dealt with.

It is annoying that some people are not caring enough to pick up the mess that their dogs are making.

Please let me know if you are aware of further problems.