City’s rents soar as council licensing schemes backfire, landlord claims

A landlord who provides homes to hundreds of homeless benefit tenants says council licensing schemes are making rents rocket and forcing people onto the streets.

Mick Roberts, Nottingham’s biggest private provider for this group, told the Nottingham Post that he has decades of experience in the sector but blames Nottingham City Council’s licensing schemes for the rising rents.

He says the fees charged to landlords by the council make them hike up rents at their properties to avoid losing money.

This causes more tenants to struggle, especially amid the cost-of-living crisis and the schemes are driving good landlords away.

His comments come after homeless charity Shelter revealed recently that Nottingham has the highest rate of homelessness in the country.

License fees make many landlords sell their properties

Mr Roberts says the license fees make many landlords sell their properties, reducing the supply of homes for rent in the city.

He explains: “This really affects the vulnerable low-earning tenants that couldn’t afford anywhere as it was.

“It’s supposed to be making houses better for tenants, but it’s definitely making houses more expensive for tenants.

“They just make their own rules up without asking the people affected.”

He adds: “They (the council) are blinded by a few bad landlords they have seen. They think all tenants can’t stand landlords.”

Renting a property has risen by 20%

In Nottingham, renting a property has risen by 20%, with the average rent now £970 a month and data from the Office for National Statistics shows rent costs in England are up 6.1% nationally, the highest rise since records began in 2006.

Mr Roberts warns this could make more people homeless or force them to relocate, as they can’t find or afford properties to rent.

Nottingham’s council runs three different licensing schemes for landlords: Mandatory Licensing, Additional Licensing and Selective Licensing.

The second Selective Licensing scheme started on Friday 1 December, and requires most privately rented properties to be licensed.

‘Why do we need a new one?’

Mr Roberts says each property will need a license, which costs him around £890, and he said: “If the last licensing scheme was so successful then why do we need a new one, or if the last scheme that rubbish, then why are they bringing a new one in?”

He says the licensing schemes make him and others raise their prices and ‘tenants cannot move anymore whatsoever with interest rates and everything else’.

He adds: “We did not need this, the tenants did not need this.”

Mr Roberts told the newspaper that many landlords are selling properties because of the hassle of licensing fees and extra costs.

He said: “That’s what licensing does, it makes them pack it up and then vulnerable tenants have to pay more.”

‘Selective Licensing schemes are based on national guidelines’

A Nottingham City Council spokesperson told the Nottingham Post: “Selective licensing schemes are based on national guidelines and operate all over the country, including a number of major cities like Nottingham.

“They exist precisely to empower tenants and demand the highest living and safety standards of landlords. The council introduced Selective Licensing in August 2018 to give tenants in more than 30,000 privately rented homes across the city better-quality accommodation and greater protection from bad landlords.

“It also allows landlords to demonstrate that they provide good accommodation for renters, while tenants know what is expected of their landlord in terms of maintenance, safety and management of their home. Where problems arise, it means we can take swift action to ensure landlords address them or, in the worst cases, prosecute and remove their right to hold a licence.”

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