Almost 650 properties and more than 200 landlords have been star rated in the first 6 months of the programme being officially launched.
Now, private sector landlords and managing agents are being invited to an engagement event on Tuesday 23 May, to discuss further ways the 'Rent with Confidence' team can work in partnership with them to help make more improvements to private sector rented housing living standards in the city.
It will be held in the Seminar Room, at the Arena Theatre, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1SE, with round table discussions with managing agents from 6pm to 7pm, and landlords from 7pm to 8pm.
The rating system is similar to the one used by the Food Standards Agency for restaurants and takeaways.
It is hoped it will improve the health and wellbeing of residents, encourage greater customer choice, and gradually raise the bar for the quality of private sector rented housing in the city.
Lesley Roberts, City of Wolverhampton Council Strategic Director for Housing, said: "Rent with Confidence is all about being open and transparent and is helping make it clear who are the good landlords and who are not.
"Standards need to be improved across the board and we need to stop the exploitation of people whose choices are limited.
"This 5 star system is both innovative and should make a real difference to improving the quality of private sector rental property in Wolverhampton as we continue to regenerate the city.
"This in turn provides health and safety benefits associated with better living conditions.
"Visually the scheme is easily recognisable and will help tenants and other housing providers identify the best landlords.
"The detail has been developed in consultation with partner agencies and landlords, and this latest event is another way of gaining valuable feedback.
"It is as part of a wider package of housing measures aimed at improving standards across Wolverhampton."
Stars are awarded to landlords who comply with the law and who rent out property above the minimum statutory standards, with financial incentives for 5 star landlords.
Three to five star landlords are given access to the new property website portal, Type=links;Linkid=7634;Title=Rent with Confidence;Target=_blank;, which is run by the council, and only advertises council-approved properties.
The database of properties available through the scheme will be gradually built up over time as the Rent with Confidence web portal becomes THE search engine for private rented properties in the city. In the meantime tenants can register their interest in finding accommodation in the city on the website.
In order to deal with the initial large influx of requests, landlords have been invited to self assess their properties on the portal to gain a preliminary rating until the council is able to inspect and confirm these ratings.
All star ratings are published on the website for tenants and landlords to view, along with a feature giving up to date information on which legal notices have been served on landlords.
For further information about the landlords and managing agents event on 23 May please email rwc@wolverhampton.gov.uk or call Ravi Phull on 01902 552812.
Managing agents can book at Type=links;Linkid=8438;Title=Eventbrite - Managing Agents;Target=_blank;.
Landlords can book at Type=links;Linkid=8439;Title=Eventbrite - Landlords;Target=_blank;.
- released: Wednesday 10 May, 2017