Councillor praises power of selective licensing

Councillor Jim Steinke, representative for Nether Edge and Sharrow, brought in selective licensing last year during his term as cabinet member for neighbourhoods and community safety.

It is set up in a targeted area covering Abbeydale, London and Chesterfield Roads and ensures standards in rented housing are up to scratch.

Coun Steinke said: “As the local councillor for London and Abbeydale Roads, I am delighted at the progress being made on improving the standards of private rented properties along those roads.

“It completely justifies the decision to make it a selective licensing area last year.

“I am particularly pleased that, despite the initial concerns for some landlords, there is now a lot of cooperation by landlords with the council officers, although there has been a number of prosecutions.

“This can only be to the benefit of tenants living in these properties and will hopefully contribute to raising the quality of the complete environment on London and Abbeydale Roads, with improvements to the commercial properties there and better traffic control.

“This is one of the gateways into the city centre and many thousands benefit from all these improvements every day.

“I hope that the council can continue to improve the quality of private rented housing across the city as it is now a major provider of accommodation and we need to ensure that all tenants are legally protected and have decent standards of living, not just those in selective licensing areas.”

A report by Sheffield City Council showed there were 164 homes with serious hazards found in just 10 months.

The dangers were related to things including fire, falls down stairs excessive cold, mould and damp.

Some campaigners and councillors are now calling for a citywide roll out of the scheme.