Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors:

Emma Baker

David Bellamy

Harrish Bisnauthsing

Steven Cunnington

James Denniston

Patsy Ellis

Ben Green

Graham Jeal

Nikki Manterfield

Penny Milnes

Rhea Rayside

Nick Robins

Penny Robins

Vanessa Smith

Rosemary Trollope-Bellew

Mark Whittington

The public open forum will last for a maximum of 30 minutes.

There were no questions or statements from members of the public.

This Council notes:

1. The ongoing public concern about the housing of asylum seekers by the Labour government;
2. That the closure of asylum hotels is increasingly raising the question of where the government will go next to house asylum seekers;
3. That the private rented sector is a logical area for the government to exploit;
4. The use of Section 21 “no fault eviction” notices and fears from charities and tenants that they are being used to free up accommodation for government contractors to use for asylum seekers before the Renters Rights Bill abolishes Section 21 notices;
5. The Renters Rights Bill scheduled for Royal Assent in July 2025 with implementation scheduled from October 2025 to January 2026 (at time of writing the Bill had still not received Royal Assent);
6. That a wide range of councils have established mandatory registration for private sector landlords, primarily as a means of addressing concerns about “slum landlords” and substandard housing.

This Council believes:

1. In transparency for the sake of community cohesion;
2. In supporting our residents in private sector rental accommodation who fear eviction for no stated reason;
3. That the private rented sector is a valuable part of our housing mix and that landlords should always be supported in removing tenants who break the terms of their rental agreements.

This Council resolves:

1. To immediately introduce a voluntary register of all privately rented accommodation in South Kesteven, the landlords and managing agents of each property and a voluntary declaration as to whether or not the property is being used for a government contract or if Section 21 notices have been served by that landlord at any time in the last 12 months.
2. To ensure our housing officers receive full support in the fast and full introduction of the mandatory register as prescribed in the Renters Rights Bill.
3. To conduct a capacity review of our Private Sector Housing team to ensure they are adequately resourced to give proactive support to ensure our residents in private sector rental properties have safe and high quality accommodation.

Prior to the introduction of the printed motion, the Chief Executive apologised to Full Council for the identified procedural error when previously considering this motion at the meeting held on 13 October. Motions on notice are required to be tabled in order to become formal motions, through the moving and seconding of the motion. Legal advice had been received, and this meeting had been called to rectify the error.

Councillor Gareth Knight proposed the following motion:

This Council notes:

1. The ongoing public concern about the housing of asylum seekers by the Labour government;
2. That the closure of asylum hotels is increasingly raising the question of where the government will go next to house asylum seekers;
3. That the private rented sector is a logical area for the government to exploit;
4. The use of Section 21 “no fault eviction” notices and fears from charities and tenants that they are being used to free up accommodation for government contractors to use for asylum seekers before the Renters Rights Bill abolishes Section 21 notices;
5. The Renters Rights Bill scheduled for Royal Assent in July 2025 with implementation scheduled from October 2025 to January 2026 (at time of writing the Bill had still not received Royal Assent);
6. That a wide range of councils have established mandatory registration for private sector landlords, primarily as a means of addressing concerns about “slum landlords” and substandard housing.

This Council believes:

1. In transparency for the sake of community cohesion;
2. In supporting our residents in private sector rental accommodation who fear eviction for no stated reason;
3. That the private rented sector is a valuable part of our housing mix and that landlords should always be supported in removing tenants who break the terms of their rental agreements.

This Council resolves:

1. To immediately introduce a voluntary register of all privately rented accommodation in South Kesteven, the landlords and managing agents of each property and a voluntary declaration as to whether or not the property is being used for a government contract or if Section 21 notices have been served by that landlord at any time in the last 12 months.
2. To ensure our housing officers receive full support in the fast and full introduction of the mandatory register as prescribed in the Renters Rights Bill.
3. To conduct a capacity review of our Private Sector Housing team to ensure they are adequately resourced to give proactive supportto ensure our residents in private sector rental properties have safe and high quality accommodation.

In introducing the motion, Councillor Knight ran through a history of Section 21 notices. These notices were due to be banned from 1 May 2026. There was no register for Section 21 notices; however, 18 councils in England had introduced registers to address issues with landlords.

The motion was seconded.

An amendment to the motion was proposed and seconded:

This Council notes:

1. The Government’s announcement that Section 21 “no fault” eviction notices will be banned from 1st May 2026;
2. Fears from charities and tenants that the forthcoming Section 21  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

The meeting closed at 12:33pm.