The Council is running the consultation until 24 March, after which a report will be presented to the Council’s Cabinet for a decision on whether or not the scheme should be introduced. 

The proposals are to introduce a scheme whereby landlords who rent out houses in the centre of Rotherham, Eastwood, Masbrough, Dinnington and parts of Maltby wil be required to get a licence for each house and meet additional conditions.  

The aim of the scheme is to tackle low housing demand which is a problem in the areas, caused by high rates of householders leaving the area, high rates of empty property, high rates of environmental Anti-Social behaviour.  

 A further effect is lower than average house prices and much lower when compared with neighbouring areas.

People have also had the chance to ask questions about the scheme at a series of drop-in sessions which have been running across the borough – and a decision has now been taken to cancel the remaining three sessions, as below:

Monday 10 February – 2pm to 7pm, The Hub, 103 Canklow Rd, Rotherham, S60 2JF.

Monday 17 February – 2pm to 7pm, Masbrough Community Centre, 94 College Rd, Rotherham, S60 1JE.

Friday 7 March – 2pm to 7pm, John Smith’s Room, Rotherham Town Hall, The Crofts, Moorgate Street, Rotherham S60 2TH.

Dave Richmond, the council’s Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods, urged people to continue to have their say on the plans. 

He said: “We are keen for all people who live, work and own property in these areas to respond to the consultation and to inform the decisions which will be made by the council later in the year.

“To help raise understanding of the potential scheme the council also planned seven drop in sessions with officers on hand to answer questions and provide information, and encourage attenders to fill in questionnaires. 

“However having ran four of these sessions it became apparent that a small number of people were attending multiple meetings with the apparent intent of disrupting the discussion. 

 “We believe this prevented meaningful conversations taking place and in light of this have taken the decision to cancel the remaining meetings – but we are still urging people to put forward their views on the scheme until the end of the consultation.”

To ensure that as many people as possible can respond a full set of the proposals, the questionnaire, business plan and maps of the areas under consideration can be found online. The council has also sent out 16,000 paper copies of the consultation. 

The consultation process will still run until 24 March and anyone with a view on this issue is asked to visit the website and send the council their views by filing in a questionnaire.