Selective Licensing Scheme Evaluation, re-designated Area Central Bensham
Rates of crime in the designated area
The bar chart shows the rate of crime per 1,000 dwellings for the licensing scheme in Central Bensham (re-designated area) throughout the five years of the licensing scheme. The data shows that there was a slight reduction in crime within Central Bensham when licensing was designated in 2018. There was a reduction in crime rates due to the national lockdown as more tenants and occupants were at home during 2020. However, since the lifting of the COVID restrictions it is noticeable that the rate of crime reported to the Police is still significantly greater. This rate could also be increased as during this period officers from the licensing team encouraged tenants to report incidences of crime to the Police. The data for 2022 to 2023 shows a significant reduction in the reporting of crime to the police.
This could be because the residents are not reporting crime to the police and also because the scheme has ended the team are not actively encouraging residents to report crime.
It is noted that crime rates have increased nationally since 2016, and this is when the method of reporting crime changed - now any incident reported to the Police which indicates a crime has occurred will be recorded as a crime prior to deployment of an officer. Following an investigation, a decision will be made to determine whether a crime has occurred, so this can skew the data that is available at any given time. Furthermore, these results could be anecdotal, and that crime is actually being under reported to the Police as this is an area of concern to both the Council and Police.
The Team was delighted in October 2019 when the positive work of the partnership was recognised, and the team were shortlisted for a Pride in Policing Award within Northumbria Police. In recognition of the on-going positive work a further nomination was received for 2022 for the partnership between Operation Vienna and the Licensing Team within Private Sector Housing.
Empty properties
| Gateshead empty property rate | Redes empty property rate | Gateshead long term empty property rate | Redes long term empty property rates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 3.6 | 11.5 | 1.8 | 5.5 |
| 2018 | 3.9 | 7.3 | 2.0 | 3.9 |
| 2019 | 3.8 | 7.8 | 2.0 | 4.6 |
| 2020 | 4.0 | 7.1 | 2.1 | 4.0 |
| 2021 | 3.8 | 7.2 | 2.1 | 5.5 |
| 2022 | 3.6 | 7.1 | 2.0 | 3.8 |
| 2023 | 3.7 | 6.3 | 2.1 | 4.4 |
It is normally considered that 4% of the stock being empty is a healthy sign within the housing market to allow for a changing population and demand within the area. The rate of empty properties in the re-designated area of Central Bensham in 2023 in still higher than the average for the rest of the borough. However, the empty property rate is now 6.3% and this is the lowest rate since the original data was collated for the redesignation of Central Bensham.
The long-term empty property rate (more than six months) is double the rate of Gateshead average. Although, the data shows the rate is still lower then when the
scheme was redesignated in 2017. These figures are characteristic with the current housing market and a growth in the private rented sector, which has seen an annual percentage change of 1.6% in September 2023 and the Northeast benefited from the highest annual price increase within the housing stock. This trend has supported a healthy market force, and this has reduced the number of empty properties, which in turn has seen a significant rise in rental income across the country.
Tenure changes
The graph above shows the percentage of properties changing hands one or more times in a year in Central Bensham, this has reduced from 19% to 12% since the scheme was re-designated. This reduction is closer to the Gateshead average of 9% of properties changing hands within the private rented sector over a 12-month period.
The turnover of tenancies in the re-designated licensing area is at the lowest rate at the end of the scheme in 2023.
Equivalently, over the same period of time there has been a significant reduction in the percentage of properties changing hands 2 or more times. Since 2019, within Central Bensham there has been a significant reduction in the percentage of properties that have changed hands twice within the same year. The graph above shows the rate is still higher than the rest of Gateshead, but the percentage has reduced by half in consideration to pre-licensing data.
As expected, tenants moved less frequently during the 2020 Covid national lockdowns but the figures for Central Bensham the figures show there is now less than 4% of properties changing hands two or more times and the rate is at the lowest level throughout the designation.