HMO register

Dear Oren Kander
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST - REF NO
- F11326 (please quote in correspondence)
I acknowledge your request for information dated the 09 October 2017
relating to HMO Register.
Your request is being considered and, if it is held, you will receive the
information requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as
defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information
not being exempt or containing a reference to a third party.
If appropriate, the information may be provided in paper copy, normal font
size.  If you require alternative formats, e.g. language, audio, large
print, etc. then please let us know.
For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may
prevent release of the information you have requested.  There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the
information will not be released.  You will be informed if this is the
case, including your rights of appeal.
If the information you request contains reference to a third party then
they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to
release the information to you.  You will be informed if this is the case.
A fee may be payable for this information.  This will be considered and
you will be informed if a fee is payable.  In this event the fee must be
paid before the information is processed and released.  The 20 working day
time limit is suspended until receipt of the payment.
Please be advised that in line with London Borough of Sutton's commitment
to transparency, in due course an anonymous copy of your request and our
response may be published on our website.
Yours sincerely
FOI Admin Officer
London Borough of Sutton

Dear Oren Kander
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST - REF NO
- F11326 (please quote in correspondence)

I refer to your request for information received on 09 October 2017
relating to HMO Register.

Under section 232 of the Housing Act 2004 the Council is obliged to
maintain a register of licensed addresses at its offices and to make
this register available by members of the public at reasonable times.
The Council is also entitled to levy a fee for a copy of the register or
extract of that register. As such, your request falls under the
exemption provided by s21 Freedom of Information Act, which provides
that there is no obligation to provide information via FOIA if it is
reasonably accessible by other means. Should you wish to view the
register during office hours please make an appointment with an officer
by telephoning 020 8770 5000. A fee of £20 will be charged to view the
register. The fact that a fee is charged for access to the information
does not mean that it is not reasonably accessible.
Contact numbers and email addresses of property licence holders does not
form part of the statutory register of licensed addresses. This
information is not therefore in the public domain and is personal data
that the Council cannot disclose as it is exempt under Section 40(2) of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Those who have provided their
contact numbers and email addresses will in the Council’s view have an
expectation that those details will remain confidential and will not be
further disclosed by the Council. Disclosing such information could
cause damage and distress to those concerned and the Council is of the
view that this is not outweighed by any legitimate interests that others
may have in obtaining this information.

If you are unhappy with the way in which your request has been handled
you have the right to ask for an internal review.  Please notify us in
writing as soon as possible with the grounds upon which you feel the
appeal is justified to : [1][Sutton Borough Council request email]  or by post to Customer
Care and Improvement Team, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton,
Surrey, SM1 1EA.

We aim to respond to you within 20 working days of receiving your
request. If it is going to take longer we will let you know.

Should you still be dissatisfied with the outcome you have the right to
refer to the Information Commissioner: Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF [2]www.ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely

Fiona Meads
Residential Team Leader
Regulatory Services
Kingston & Sutton Shared Environment Service
London Borough of Sutton, 
Denmark Road, Carshalton, Surrey, SM5 2JG
Tel: 020 8770 5000 (Sutton Residents)
Tel: 020 8547 5000 (Kingston Residents)
Email: [3][email address]

Dear Oren Kander,
I acknowledge your request for a review into the handling of your request
for information under our ref F11326. 

The Customer Care and Improvement team will arrange for a review of our
handling of your original request. We aim to complete this review within
20 working days from the date of your email below. This is in accordance
with the council's complaints procedure, and in line with ICO guidance. If
you remain unhappy following the outcome of the appeal you may then refer
to the Office of the Information Commissioner. 

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact the FOI Admin
Officer, London Borough of Sutton, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton
SM1 1EA or email [1][Sutton Borough Council request email]

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
[2]www.ico.org.uk
Yours Sincerely
FOI Admin Officer
London Borough Of Sutton

Dear Oren Kander,
I refer to your email dated 16 October requesting an Internal Review  of
our decision in connection with your FOI request Reference No: F 11326.
You made a request dated 09 October for "the updated register of all HMO
properties in the area with all relevant information, in particular; the
owners names and contact details/addresses, the address of the HMO
property and all other relevant information such as dates of licence
renewals etc"
A response was sent to you on 16 October  stating that:
Under section 232 of the Housing Act 2004 the Council is obliged to
maintain a register of licensed addresses at its offices and to make this
register available by members of the public at reasonable times. The
Council is also entitled to levy a fee for a copy of the register or
extract of that register. As such, your request falls under the exemption
provided by s21 Freedom of Information Act, which provides that there is
no obligation to provide information via FOIA if it is reasonably
accessible by other means. Should you wish to view the register during
office hours please make an appointment with an officer by telephoning 020
8770 5000. A fee of £20 will be charged to view the register. The fact
that a fee is charged for access to the information does not mean that it
is not reasonably accessible.
Contact numbers and email addresses of property licence holders does not
form part of the statutory register of licensed addresses. This
information is not therefore in the public domain and is personal data
that the Council cannot disclose as it is exempt under Section 40(2) of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Those who have provided their contact
numbers and email addresses will in the Council’s view have an expectation
that those details will remain confidential and will not be further
disclosed by the Council. Disclosing such information could cause damage
and distress to those concerned and the Council is of the view that this
is not outweighed by any legitimate interests that others may have in
obtaining this information.

You then contacted the London Borough Of Sutton again on 16 October
2017 to request an internal review of Sutton Borough Council's handling of
my FOI request 'HMO register' stating

"The HMO register was given out in  a previous FOI request as recently as
2015 and at the very least you expect to be given an updated version of
this list. I hope this is workable for you as travelling to the Council
offices to view the list in person is not currently possible for me. I
thank you for your time in advance

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this
address: [1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/h...

I have reviewed the information provided to you by Fiona Meads,
Residential Environmental Team Leader, and I have also consulted the
relevant sections of the Housing Act 2004 and the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 as well as referring to guidance from the ICO’s website.

In my opinion, the information provided to you by Fiona Meads is correct.
The Housing Act 2004 does allow for you to obtain a copy of the HMO
Register. However since your last request the Council has introduced a fee
of £20 if you wish to receive a hard copy of the register in a PDF format.
The Housing Act 2004 allows the Council to charge for this service.
However you can view the register free of charge at our offices at 24
Denmark Road Carshalton. If you wish to view the register you should
contact the council on 020 8770 5550 to make an appointment.

The details that are provided on the HMO register are prescribed in
legislation as detailed above, this does not include contact telephone
numbers or emails of the owners of  HMOs. This information is personal
data and as such is exempt under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and
therfore the Council cannot diclose this information.

Your appeal is therefore denied. I am sorry not be able to assist you
further, but if you remain unhappy with the outcome of this
reconsideration you may refer to the Information Commissioner’s Office. We
will cooperate fully with any investigation she undertakes. Further
information can be found on their website at [2]www.ico.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Jan Gransden
Group Manager Regulatory Services
Kingston & Sutton Shared Environment Service 
Denmark Road/Carshalton/Surrey/SM5 2JG 
020 8770 5550 (Sutton)
020 8547 5513  (Kingston)
07736 338315   (Mobile)
Email: [3][email address] 
[4]www.sutton.gov.uk
Disclaimers apply, for full details see : 
(https://www.sutton.gov.uk/info/200436/cu...)

References

Visible links
1. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/h...
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.sutton.gov.uk/