Housing campaigners have called for North Somerset Council to follow the example of Bristol next door and require landlords to have a licence to rent out homes.

Valerie Donegan, who has been battling rogue landlords since her daughter and grandchildren were placed in a flat “not good enough for a dog to live in,” was among the people who urged the council to take the step. She said: “License landlords. Don’t let them get away with anything.”

In Bristol, all landlords who rent a house to three or more unrelated people have been required since August to have a licence from the council — with some areas of the city having ever stricter rules. The new rules were brought in this summer and give the council more power to inspect and uphold standards of rented properties.

North Somerset Council has not drawn up any plans for a similar scheme — but the idea was raised at an “inquiry day” into housing in the district held at Weston-super-Mare Town Hall on Thursday October 17.

The inquiry day saw the council hear officers from Bristol City Council and Bath and North East Somerset Council speak about how they used landlord licensing. Citizens Advice also spoke and warned that many people did not raise issues because they feared retaliatory evictions.

Alan Rice and Dot Agassiz of Weston Housing AcTion (WHAT) were among the people who spoke at the inquiry day. WHAT frequently helps tenants in the seaside town who face issues with their landlords. Ms Agassiz said: “It’s dreadful to think how many people are living in Weston in dreadful discomfort and feeling totally powerless. There is no excuse for that and many of them are carers and parents.”

Ms Donegan described how her daughter and grandchildren were placed in a flat with mould and damp. She said plaster crumbled and fell on her then five-year-old grandson while he was sleeping in bed. She said: “We approached North Somerset Council about it. I participated in North Somerset Council meetings about this. So I think we need to start looking at licensing landlords.”

But Neil Turner, who has been letting properties since 1973, told councillors: “The real problem is not the lack of regulations, but the lack of enforcement of regulations.” He warned: “The additional cost of licensing will be passed onto the tenants.”

Local landlord Mike Turner said the council should do something more “positive” and highlight which landlords it sees as good ones. He said: “Give them a gold star.” He added: “This will stop the rogue landlords out there getting business which ultimately is what this is all about.”

He said: “There needs to be some benefit to the god landlords out there otherwise you are just penalising us.”

But John Martel, who ran a property management company in Barry and Cardiff in South Wales, told councillors: “I can’t believe you don’t have a licensing system here in Weston.”

A report on the findings of the inquiry day will go before the next but one meeting of the council’s adult services and housing policy scrutiny panel on March 18 next year.

Councillor Dan Thomas (Congresbury and Puxton, Green Party), who chaired the inquiry day, said: “As councillors it’s really beneficial to hear experiences from across North Somerset and our neighbouring authorities on what we as a council can do to improve property conditions in the private rental sector.

“North Somerset council has a key role and we must use every lever we can to improve housing, in particular for our most vulnerable residents. As a renter,  in the past I’ve lived in poor and precarious housing and I know the effect it can have. 

“We should be doing all we can to work proactively with landlords to improve the quality of housing which will be a real benefit to tenants in North Somerset.”