Proposals for private landlords to require licence in three areas of the Borough move closer to being implemented

Plans to drive improvements to private rental property standards and management in three areas of the Stockton-on-Tees Borough have taken another step forward.

Proposals to introduce a Selective Licensing scheme were agreed at a meeting of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's Cabinet on Thursday (May 16).

This follows on from the findings of a detailed consultation, which ran from November 2023 until January 2024.

Under the proposals, all private landlords operating in Central Stockton, Newtown and Thornaby will be required to obtain a licence from the Council.

The licence will be valid for up to five years and is set to contain a series of conditions that the licence holder will be required to comply with.

The official start date for the Selective Licensing scheme will now be agreed and is set to be confirmed in the summer.

Councillor Nigel Cooke, the Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Housing, said: "We are delighted to be able to confirm our plans for the Selective Licensing scheme following on from the extensive consultation which was undertaken between November and January - and found that across the three areas, 62 per cent of all residents who responded were in favour of the proposals.

"The scheme is being brough forward in Central Stockton and North Thornaby because they are areas of low housing demand and have high concentrations of private rented properties.

"In fact, in North Thornaby, 41 per cent of properties are privately rented and this figure is even higher in Central Stockton at 50 per cent. This is way above the national average of 20.3 per cent and in addition to 10 per cent of properties standing empty in Central Stockton and 11 per cent in North Thornaby.

"In Newtown, as well as having a high proportion of properties privately rented, there are also high levels of crime and anti-social behaviour which the scheme can help address.

"We now look forward to the scheme getting up and running, which is set to be in the summer after the formal notification period of three months."

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