Improving private renting enforcement

Improving private renting enforcement 

We are using our unique position working across the city region to accelerate improved council enforcement by spending more than £3.5 million on trailblazing projects. Together these are: 

• Funding over 25 new enforcement officers across GM 
• Adding more than 20 officers to the qualified workforce 
• Supporting councils to make more use of their powers 

If you need support from enforcement to tackle a problem in your rented home, find out how to contact your council.  

Tackling the shortage of qualified officers 

The whole country has a shortage of qualified enforcement officers. We are helping tackle the skills shortage across the city region and our initiatives are getting more than 20 new enforcement officers fully qualified so far. 

Our trainee programme for new entrants is delivering ten new housing enforcement trainees – one in each GM council. Each trainee is receiving all the training and qualifications they need to be able to enforce at a high level:  

• Level 4 Regulatory Compliance Officer Apprenticeship  
• Level 5, CIEH-endorsed, advanced certificate or diploma 
• Additional training and certification (e.g. HHSRS) 

As well as bringing in new entrants, we are also supporting existing council staff to retrain as housing enforcement officers. We have funded ten places on the level 5, CIEH-endorsed, advanced certificate for existing staff so far and plan to fund further places to continue to tackle the skills shortage. 

Removing barriers to using civil penalties 

Civil penalties can be an effective enforcement tool to tackle bad housing, but councils currently experience a range of barriers to using them.  

We are committed to removing the barriers to using civil penalties and have secured £2.1 million from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to do so, by tackling:  

• Lack of capacity – 16 additional enforcement officers across Greater Manchester  
• Skills and knowledge – A comprehensive training programme for enforcement officers covering all the skills and knowledge required to use civil penalties 
• Defunct equipment – New technical equipment for more effective investigations and property inspections 
• Legal support and debt recovery – Dedicated work to unblock remove bottlenecks in the civil penalty process 

New property licensing schemes 

Funding pressures on councils have reduced their capacity to develop and consult on new discretionary property licensing schemes. These schemes, which require landlords of specific private rented homes to have a licence, can help councils address bad private rented housing in their area. 

We are making it easier for councils across GM to introduce new additional HMO licensing or selective licensing schemes by: 

• Funding project managers to lead new scheme development and public consultations 
• Organising expert advice for councils looking at implementing discretionary licensing 

Through our 2023 Devolution Trailblazer deal we have also negotiated an exemption for GM local authorities from the requirement for new large selective licensing schemes to be signed-off by the government.