Liverpool granting licences to Agents and not Landlords?

What if you are based out of the UK and only let for some of the year while using it for UK mail ?

Been reading all the comments, but didn't find any where the landlord confirmed they were granted the license.

I finally received an email from the council asking whether the landlord is the appropriate person.

My agent X1 says that they have had approvals for the landlords where they have applied directly, but can one trust the agents on this, not sure.

Should I respond back to the council highlighting points raised by some of you in earlier comments supporting why we should be the licence holder. Also, we are not professional landlords with tens of properties, just this one so we can be thorough and keep eye on any issues.

Any quick suggestions would be appreciated as I need to respond back to the council soon.
Thanks.

Reply to the comment left by Mohit Bist at 26/11/2022 - 09:40
Ones I registered directly with the council are still in 'submitted state' - I check sporadically. LCC sent me the same 'you're not the one' message, albeit my agent spoke with LCC and were given a different answer.

My response (not acknowledge I should add) was "One of my contacts in X confirmed discussing the situation of Letting Agent/Landlord with a council/licencing representative and it was confirmed to them (as I am advised) that the landlord should be the Licence Holder. Whilst the Letting Agent may be given some degree of autonomy, ultimately they receive rent as agent for the landlord, and should segregate payments in a client account, and they do not have the authority to start/end tenancies. X therefore confirmed to me that to their understanding I should be the license holder."

Reply to the comment left by Mohit Bist at 26/11/2022 - 09:40
I had a heated back & forth debate with the Council. The end result was that I made the application in my name, but the Council awarded it to my Letting Agent. Worked for me in the sense that I avoided £1000+ charge from the LA for work that I had already done. It does mean though that if I want to change LA in the next 5 years then I have to start process all over again.

Reply to the comment left by Peter Hindley at 03/12/2022 - 17:28
Thanks for the response Peter.

I find it very strange that they would award it to the LA when an application has been made on LL's behalf.
What if the LA doesn't want that role? Were they consulted?

But understand that you would be okay with the outcome, not having to face a rejection, losing the fee and reapplying again.
Said that, you might prefer to stick the the same LA in the future.

I'll respond stating we should be the lisence holder.
Thanks.

LA was already the Holder for lots of other Landlords. Council seem to favour as few License Holders as possible.

Hi All.
Yesterday I received a (positive sounding) proposal from Liverpool Council regarding a proposed Selective Licence in my Ltd Company's name. I own a 2-bed new-build, and I rent it out via Purple Bricks (very impressed with them so far by the way...)

One slightly less positive was this part of the the email:

"We note that you have indicated on the application that you are not a member of a Redress Scheme. It is a legal requirement for all lettings agents and property managers in England to belong to a government approved redress scheme. If this applies to you, we would be grateful if you could confirm in writing to PrivateSector.Housing@liverpool.gov.uk that you have joined such a scheme."

I had to Google what a Redress Scheme is...
By the sounds of it, Purple Bricks will almost definitely be part of a Redress Scheme. For a HMO property I have (and self-manage) in the Midlands, this was not a stipulation of the Licence I was awarded four years ago, but I have of course always used the DPS to hold tenants deposits.

So what are my options here?

I could try to submit Purple Bricks' Redress Scheme membership details - but I'm guessing that won't wash.
Does it make sense that I join one, even though I would not be the letting/management responsible for this property in question?

I plan to rent 3 more flats via this Ltd company in the next 6-months when they complete. At least one of them we plan to self manage, so perhaps I'd anyway have to be part of a Redress Scheme for that one, so might as well sign-up now?

I have nothing against Purple Bricks at the moment... but my previous Developer-run letting agency was shockingly bad, and at time of application I did not want them to be the licence holder - to only have to re-apply (and pay) again after I changed agents. However, after I had submitted my licence application a year ago, I followed this thread, and was pleasantly surprised that they made a licence proposal.

Any thoughts/ ideas would me much appreciated!

Phil

Reply to the comment left by Gra Rock at 23/06/2022 - 15:42
Thanks for the recommendation, Graham!

😁😁

Reply to the comment left by Phil Harris at 10/06/2023 - 05:04
Hi Phil,

If you're going to self-manage your properties, you do not need to part of a redress scheme.

For self-managing landlords, this would effectively be a landlord register, which isn't yet in force in England.

If you're using an agent, it is mandatory that they are a member of a redress scheme.

As Purple Bricks have gone bust, there's no point putting them down.

We have spoken with Liverpool Landlord Licensing and - because it's not your fault that your agent has gone pop - you can move your property to a new agent and get the agent changed without a fee.

P.s. Obvs, I'm an agent, so I've looked into it 😁

Liverpool Council have changed tact this time around.

When they introduced landlord licensing in 2015, they wanted landlords to be the licence holders (because they are ultimately responsible).

However, many landlords hide behind their agents while simultaneously blocking agents from doing anything.

That meant that the council would hit a brick wall when trying to get agents to get their landlords to do anything.

So... NEW PLAN! Make *agents* the licence holder so that AGENTS can be blamed instead!

At the end of the day, the licence holder should be the most appropriate person.

The most appropriate person is the one who actually has to make decisions and act (i.e to adhere to the material conditions of the licence) which - if you use an agent - IS the agent.