Landlord licensing plan a costly waste of time and money

In the wake of a government announcement confirming that it will shortly become significantly easier for local authorities to introduce selective licensing schemes, the NRLA has published its response to this news.

As of 23 December, councils will no longer need to seek the consent of the Secretary of State for Housing in the event they wish to create a licensing scheme of any size. This latest announcement follows the publication of the Renters' Rights Bill earlier this year, which pleged to establish a national database of private landlords and tenants.

Today's news has wide-randing implications for private landlords across the market, and the NRLA will be updating its members in greater detail in due course.

Responding to the Government's plans, Chris Norris, Policy Director for the National Residential Landlords Association, said:

“It makes no sense that whilst planning to create a national database of private landlords, the Government now wants to make it easier for councils to license landlords as well. Ministers must clarify how they plan to prevent the two schemes from duplicating each other. A failure to do so risks them becoming nothing more than cash cows.

“The Government’s plans will remove important safeguards against misuse of council licensing powers. It absolves ministers of any responsibility and will give local authorities free rein to blanket entire towns with unnecessary and costly schemes.

“Data from 2021 to 2023 shows that seven of the top ten most proactive councils issuing improvement notices to private sector landlords did not have selective licensing schemes in place. This clearly demonstrates that licensing schemes do not automatically lead to higher levels of enforcement by councils.”

-ENDS-

Notes

• The Government has announced that from 23^rd December local authorities in England will no longer be required to obtain confirmation from the Secretary of State before implementing a selective licensing scheme of any size.
• The Renters’ Rights Bill, currently going through Parliament, gives the Government the power to establish a national database of private rented sector landlords and properties. The Government’s explanatory note to accompany the Bill notes that the database will: “bring together key information for landlords, tenants, and councils.” It continues: “Tenants will be able to access key information to inform choices when entering new tenancies, promoting greater transparency and accountability. It will also support landlords to understand their obligations and demonstrate compliance. In addition, councils will be able to use the database to target enforcement where it is needed most, against the minority of unscrupulous landlords”. Please click here for further details.
• Data collected by the NRLA under the Freedom of Information Act has found that between 2021 and 2023 for councils across England there was no clear link between the presence of a selective licensing scheme and greater use of improvement notices by local authorities to improve property standards. Seven of the most of frequent councils using improvement notices did not have a selective licensing scheme in place. You can read this data in more detail here.
• Further information about the NRLA can be found at www.nrla.org.uk.  It posts on X @NRLAssociation.
• The NRLA’s press office can be contacted by emailing [email protected] or by calling 0300 131 6363.