A licensing scheme has been extended to thousands more shared houses and flats across Brighton and Hove.
Councillors have agreed to extend the scheme from five of the 21 wards in Brighton and Hove to seven more.
The scheme will cover Brunswick and Adelaide, Central Hove, East Brighton, Goldsmid, Preston Park, Regency and Westbourne from Monday 2 November.
It already covers Hanover and Elm Grove, Hollingdean and Stanmer, Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, Queen’s Park and St Peter’s and North Laine.
A report to members of the Brighton and Hove City Council Housing and New Homes Committee said: “There are an estimated 6,460 houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in the city, nine times the national average for this type of housing.”
Some, larger HMOs, already have to be licensed under national rules. The law applies if they are three or more storeys high and home to five or more people who are not related to each other.
The report to councillors said: “The mandatory licensing scheme has been in operation in Brighton and Hove since 2006.
“The council currently license, or have licence applications for, 1,030 larger houses in multiple occupation across the city.”
The committee also agreed to put up the licence fees for the first time in five years.
The most expensive licence is a mandatory initial licence for a property with five tenants, each with their own tenancy. This will cost £1,090, up from £952, plus £55 for each extra tenant, up from £48.
Renewing the licence will cost £545, up from £476, plus £28 for each extra tenant, up from £24.
The rises take effect from Saturday 1 August. Charities will remain exempt.
A report to councillors said: “A key overarching theme arising from the citywide housing strategy review has been the significant growth in private rented housing in Brighton and Hove.
“The city has almost 121,540 homes of which a 34,081 (28 per cent) are privately rented from a landlord or letting agency (2011 Census).
“The city has the ninth largest private rented sector in England and Wales.
“The sector increased by 45.7 per cent, an extra 10,691 homes, between the 2001and 2011 Census.
“Fifteen of our 21 wards exceed the regional and national average of 15 per cent of households living in private rented homes.
“Three wards have 50 per cent or more households in homes rented through private landlords or letting agents.
“The Census figure is likely to be a minimum for the rented sector as it now stands as a proportion of all homes in the city.
“This growth brings the benefits of a flexible housing market response to meet accommodation needs in the city.
“However, while many landlords operate responsibly, issues continue to be raised in relation to the management, standards and quality of homes in the expanding private rented sector, in particular houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).”
As a result of the licensing process, the council said, hundreds of safety improvements had been carried out, improving living conditions for tenants.
Mike Stimpson, of the Southern Landlords Association (SLA), wrote to the council during consultation about the changes, saying: “It is evident from the local political manifestos of some parties that licensing of all private landlords is a political objective and not based on real factual evidence as required by the regulations and could well be subject to challenge.
“SLA considers that the way forward is to reintroduce accreditation and not use the sledgehammer of additional licensing to deal with those few landlords who do not manage their properties in a professional manner.”
