Landlords urged to make their views heard in licensing consultations
26 Sep 2019 02:59 PM
Landlords and letting agents are being urged to respond to licensing consultations.
The RLA aims to respond to all licensing consultations run by local authorities. See below for an up to date list of current consultations and their closing dates and to read our recent licensing consultation responses.
The RLA is currently supporting a landlord in an important legal case around licensing. The landlord struggled to gain possession of his property despite his tenant accruing large rent arrears, due to a licensing technicality. Read more about this important appeal here.
Bassetlaw District Council-selective licensing [closes 10th October]
Bassetlaw District Council is consulting with local tenants, residents, landlords and letting agents over proposals to introduce Selective Licensing for privately rented housing in the designated areas of Worksop South East, Worksop Central and Worksop Sandy Lane. A full list of streets that would be covered by the proposed licensing scheme is available online here, as well as details on how to respond.
Wirral-selective licensing [closes 14th October]
Wirral Council is currently consulting on both re-designating four existing licensing areas due to expire at the end of June 2020 – Birkenhead South, Egerton North, Egremont Promenade South and Seacombe Library
and extending selective licensing to two further areas (Egremont South and Tranmere Lairds) to help drive up the quality of rented accommodation in parts of Birkenhead and Wallasey. Have your say on the plans here.
Islington-additional licensing and selective licensing [closes 3rd November]
Islington council has opened a consultation on additional and selective licensing. The council is proposing to introduce borough-wide additional licensing, while the proposed selective licensing scheme will cover all the properties in the Finsbury Park ward that are not already covered by mandatory licensing. Landlords can read more about the consultation and have their say on the council’s website here.
Enfield – 29th November
Enfield Council has launched a consultation on plans to introduce two new private rented property licensing schemes.
The Council is proposing to introduce the following licensing schemes:
1. The first proposed scheme is for Selective Licensing, which would operate in the following thirteen wards: Bowes, Edmonton Green, Enfield Highway, Enfield Lock, Haselbury, Jubilee, Lower Edmonton, Palmers Green, Ponders End, Southbury, Southgate Green, Turkey Street and Upper Edmonton;
A further proposed selective licensing scheme, would operate in Chase ward.
2. A second proposed scheme is for Additional Licensing for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) which will apply to the whole borough.
The consultation closes at midnight on 29 November 2019.
The RLA’s recent licensing consultation responses
The RLA aims to respond to all local authority licensing consultations. This month, the association responded to a consultation on selective and additional licensing run by Havering Council, and a consultation on plans to introduce an Article 4 Direction in Tower Hamlets. You can read more about our responses to these consultations below.
Havering Council
Havering Council recently ran a consultation on extending a selective and additional HMO licensing consultation in the borough.
In the RLA’s response to the plans, which you can read here, the association has opposed the plans. One of the reasons for this was because the additional HMO licence fee for a new application of £1250 is considered to be excessive. The RLA warns that landlords will end up with no choice but to pass this cost on to tenants through increased rents, while criminal landlords will simply ignore the licensing scheme, as they do with other regulations.