Landlord blames selective licensing for city’s surge in temporary accommodation

Landlord licensing was a big reason for me selling up in Nottingham.

Both the Council and Mick are right.

Rents have risen because interest rates have risen. They’ve also risen because Selective Licensing 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 be paid for via increased rents; it’s an expense that the landlord only because the property is rented to tenants. Tenants are the ones that (ahem) 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑡 from the SL Scheme.

What really bugs me about SL the most is that the presumption (of the Council) is that only private tenants are the problem (that SL is attempting to fix). In my area, it is plainly clear that Social Housing houses have the scruffiest frontages and the least desirable tenants. Owner-occupiers are also capable of anti-social behaviour.

In a country where minority groups are protected from discrimination, I find it appalling that private tenants can be persecuted in this manner.

I was buying HMOs in Nottingham in 2018. There were numerous on the market that has previously received enforcement notices from planning on use class within its article four area.

Without evidence of continuous HMO use since 2012 it was not possible to obtain certificates of lawful use. Therefore, these previous HMOs were destined to become family homes. This is a reduction in rental units of approximately 80% for the affected properties. Many of these had HMO licences which shows they were previously housing up to six households.

Arguably this enforcement was responsible for the reduction in HMO rooms. Nottingham City have a blanket refusal policy on C4 applications and the only new HMOs that have legitimately added to supply since 2012 have done so following a planning inspectorate appeal.

By restricting the supply of the lowest cost accommodation in the market, the rents for these were allowed to rise due to market forces.

If prices increase at the bottom end of a supply spectrum then there is a cascade effect to the top.

Additional costs including selective licensing will encourage suppliers to increase rents where it is possible, but it must first be made possible.

I believe this is a more likely reason for rent increases than selective licensing.

The above then assumes that rent increases are the primary driver for demand on temporary council accommodation.

No comment from the NRLA who actually supported Selective Licensing in Gt Yarmouth. Fast becoming pointless.

Interest rates didn't start rising until December 2021. Rents had already been going up from 2018 so the council is talking codswallop when it says interest rate rises were why rents rose.
It is plain to see that selective licensing was actually the cause.

A perfect storm ...as ever...
In Birmingham they are now banning any more HMO's in areas where there is a proliferation. Years ago these used to be student lets then the Unis started building their own so there was a shift away from shared houses. Many landlords moved (naturally) into HMO's were needed for single people (many with issues) because the Council themselves had no other accommodation. Now these areas have become HMO overload so a ban on any new licences.
Many LL's went down the R2R route as a result, with many 'middlemen' now taking a cut as the money is in 'supported/exempt accommodation'. There has been an influx of people in these HMO's shipped in from other areas - drug issues/prison leavers and serious ASBO. Of course the 'assistance' that is supposed to be provided to them is non existent as there is no bare minimum stipulated. It's now chaos.
Others went with Serco - so HMO's full of asylum seekers, single men, again issues with drugs (dealing and cuckooing etc)
The council are now 'encouraging' LL's to revert the properties back to single lets for big families. They have 14, 5 bed or more sized properties that the council own themselves so essentially they are desperate. Apart from the general housing list, they now have huge Afghan families (more than one wife multi kids) they need to place. The Temp Accom bill is astronomical.
Then they bring in SL. Discourages LL totally from wanting to privately let. Apart from the licence cost, now a SL actually limits the number of occupants in a single let. Legislation on occupancy says one thing - BCC say another. So now according to the SL a LL is not able to let to large families at all, yet at the same time it is perfectly acceptable for a family of 6 to be in 2 b&b rooms....

Reply to the comment left by Monty Bodkin at 29/07/2024 - 07:47
I'd love to get rid of mine.

Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 29/07/2024 - 08:45
Yes, some of the stories in the local paper about Nottingham Council's own houses are shocking.

Reply to the comment left by Rupert Chapman at 29/07/2024 - 12:21
Good workings out there Rupert. Different angle on it.

I'm a nottingham landlord with thirty properties in the city and Gedling wards. The contrast between the two is stark. Gedling have inspected my licenced properties and been helpful and friendly. They have issued my licences for a "mere" £700. Nottingham City who are going to charge nearly £1000 has taken my money six months ago and done nothing yet. They can give no estimate of a completion time. During the last licence scheme they failed to inspect most of my properties and of the few they did inspect, the inspectors were surprised that i had good relationships with my tenants.
They are acting upon an anti -landlord ideology and would rather collude with fraudulent tenants than act as an honest public body.
This anti-landlord stance has, I believe, contributed greatly to the housing crisis in Nottingham.
The licence scheme's direct costs, associated training courses and extra administrative work involved have obviously caused rents to increase. I know of many small landlords who have sold up, rather than jump through these hoops.
All of these factors have contributed to the shortage of housing in Nottingham.
To continue denying this shows the fundamental dishonesty of this biased council.
Unfortunately we have a central government cut from the same cloth. The EPC C requirement will cause the loss of many more rentals and increased rents to pay for those that require major works.
Tenants will have many hard years ahead and landlords will be blamed for a situation that is not of their making.
Councils and government playing politics with tenants lives. What a disgrace.