City bosses are set to launch a crack down on rogue landlords who let sub-standard properties to desperate tenants.
They are consulting residents of the Stockland Green area of Erdington on plans to introduce a new licensing system to control the quality of homes and flats on the market.
With housing in extremely short supply, tenants often have little choice but to rent unsafe or poor quality property just to get a roof over their heads.
The area, which surrounds Slade Road, has a relatively high number of private rented properties – including former family homes which have been sub-divided into flats or shared properties - known as houses of multiple occupation (HMOs).
The five-year licence, which will cost the landlord £500, will show that the home is in a good state of repair and tidy.
Coun Penny Holbrook (Lab, Stockland Green) said: “I am delighted that the council has launched the selective licensing consultation for Stockland Green, I have been campaigning for a number of years for this measure.
“We know that the private rented sector in Stockland Green provides homes for lots of people but we want the sector to be better run, with good quality safe homes providing long term stable homes for local families.
“This is just one of ways locally as councillors we are trying to improve the housing options and market.”
Residents, landlords and businesses in the area can fill in a questionnaire on the council's consultation website .
In neighbouring Erdington ward councillors are pushing for new planning controls to limit the number of HMOs – family homes carved up into separate flats.
A similar regulation, called an Article 4 direction, was adopted in Selly Oak to stem the tide of student accommodation being created from family homes. Residents claimed it was altering the character of the area.
