There are around 26 500 private domestic dwellings within Blaenau Gwent.  A significant proportion of these, around 7% are privately rented.  The Council has recently adopted a new Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy, which can be found by following the link below.  This outlines how the Council will deal with all aspects of enforcement

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council Neighbourhood Services Team carry out a wide range enforcement functions in relation to the private sector housing stock within the County Borough. These include the enforcement of various Acts of Parliament in relation to the physical standards of housing stock, primarily The Housing Act 2004.

The aim of the Neighbourhood Services Team is to raise standards in the private sector housing stock. This benefits the health and well being of the residents of the County Borough and helps maintain and improve the housing stock for future generations.  Our objectives are to:

• Improve the standards of homes in the private sector;
• To assess local housing conditions;
• To reduce the number of poor quality properties, particularly in the private rented sector;
• To reduce the number of vulnerable households living in sub standard homes;
• To improve the energy efficiency and warmth of homes and to help reduce fuel poverty;
• To improve the standards in HMOs (houses in multiple occupation);
• To work closely with private sector landlords towards improving conditions and the standard of management of private rented housing;
• To provide an excellent service that is accessible to anyone living in the private sector who may have poor living conditions.

In order to ensure that safe standards are achieved and maintained in the private sector housing stock, officers conduct pro-active and re-active property inspections, routinely respond to requests for service and investigate complaints of disrepair.

Where substandard housing conditions are identified the Council may resort to taking enforcement action against the owner of a property.  In the vast majority of cases this will be a landlord of a privately rented property.  If the Council cannot secure improvement through informal means then it is likely that a legal notice will be served formally requiring the works to be carried out.  If a notice is served then the Council will also make a charge against the landlord, currently £200, to cover its costs in serving the notice. 

Landlords and tenants should read the Landlords Toolkit that can be found on the Private Housing home page prior to setting up or accepting any tenancy.

If you are a tenant and your property is in disrepair or there are other issues that you require advice of assistance on please contact a member of the Neighbourhood Services Team using the details below.