A MOVE which could see all landlords of Houses in Multiple Occupation need to possess a licence to rent their property has been welcomed by council chiefs.

Residential buildings with more than three occupants forming more than one household, are classed as HMOs and in recent years there have been many examples of these falling into a low level of repair, creating misery for tenants.

However, because the tenants are often afraid to report their landlord for fear of being evicted, many cases go unreported.

A recent case in Swindon, saw the owner of a bed and breakfast in County Road cramming 15 tenants into the building.

Javaid Lone was ordered to pay £16,000 after admitting a range of offences, which saw one person living in a bathroom.

Swindon Borough Council says it takes cases like this seriously and chases down rogue landlords.

Following the conviction, a spokesman said: "Tenants of larger houses of multiple occupation like this are particularly vulnerable because they may be less able to seek alternative accommodation and therefore endure squalid conditions. Our enforcement work focuses on this area, as such properties can be riddled with hazards, ranging from rat infestations to inadequate fire exits and faulty electrical installations.”

Only landlords at properties of a certain size currently need to have a licence but the Government is currently looking a legislation to extend this to all HMOs.

In Swindon there are 660 HMOs known to the council but only 90 of them are licensed. It is thought there could be up to 700 more in Swindon.

Enforcement officers regularly check properties to make sure they are up to standard but with so few on the list it relies on tenants coming forward for them to find the worst offenders.

If the government is able to bring in the regulations it will mean inspectors can reach far more properties.

Councillor Emma Faramarzi (Con, Priory Vale), the cabinet member for housing, said as details were not known it was hard to give an opinion on the legislation but any extra powers were a good thing.

“I have been to visit a number of these houses and the state they are is shocking,” she said.

“It is dreadful that some people have to live in those conditions. We wait to see what the government does but I welcome anything which helps us tackle rogue landlords.”