Tough rules for some landlords in four Denbighshire towns have been passed by county councillors, in a bid to up standards and curb rising anti-social behaviour.

The Additional Licensing Scheme will affect owners of Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in Rhyl, Prestatyn, Denbigh and Llangollen.

Landlords will have to abide by a strict set of controls and pay between £420-£1,370 for a five-year licence.

They will be given four weeks to complete forms, pay fees and prove they are a “fit and proper person” – including disclosing any unspent convictions.

The scheme, backed by North Wales Police and North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, was approved on Tuesday by Denbighshire council’s cabinet.

Built environment and public protection manager Gareth Roberts said “there was evidence” communities in Llangollen, Denbigh and Prestatyn would benefit from additional licensing rules being imposed.

He said the towns had also been picked because of their numbers of HMO properties and the authority doesn’t have “the resources” to impose the regime county wide.

Mr Roberts added: “The other reason for these towns (being chosen) is there’s a credited number of anti-social behaviour reports or complaints to North Wales Police from North Wales Police in HMOs in those towns.

“As a service we have a great number of complaints from the HMOs in those towns.”

The Additional Licensing Scheme has been in operation for 10 years in Rhyl, the area with highest density of HMOs, but officers tabled tougher proposals for there and the three other towns because of concerns over anti-social behaviour and poor accommodation.

The four towns selected have the highest concentrations of HMOs in the county and the new rules will come into force in around three months time.

The updated regulations mean:

Room space standards will be updated to match England’s where anyone older than 10 years must have a room area of at least 6.51 square metres

Energy efficiency conditions must meet with latest Welsh Regulations

Stricter conditions on disposal and storage of refuse

Landlords must have “reasonable procedures” in place regarding anti-social behaviour

A carbon monoxide (CO) alarm must be fitted to any room used as living accommodation and containing a gas appliance

HMOs with three or more storeys, with five or more occupants and forming two or more households, are covered by a Mandatory Licensing Scheme.

Only a small number of homes in Denbighshire fall under the Mandatory scheme so additional licensing aims to force HMOs not covered to operate under the same rules, such as those in converted dwellings for more than one household.

Up to January this year 143 HMOs had registered for the Additional Licensing Scheme and 33 for the mandatory version.

In all there are around 1,333 HMOs in Denbighshire with the amount for each of the towns affected by the new scheme approximately:

Rhyl – 840

Prestatyn – 160

Llangollen – 121

Denbigh – 84

Since 2015, the total number of housing-related complaints received by Denbighshire council’s public protection housing enforcement team was 939, of which 475 (50.6%) were from HMO properties.

If a complaint about the condition of a property is received it is inspected and rated against 29 separate hazards, split into Category 1 (more serious) and Category 2.

In the 1,004 HMO properties assessed over the last four years 579 Category 1 hazards were detected and 1,193 Category 2 risks were found, which equates to 53% of all hazards found in rented properties being within HMOs.