Selective Licence expired?

Gary. Unfortunately you have been committing a crime for these two years under the Housing Act 2004.

Strongly recommend you get specialist representation against the council to minimise what could be a £10,000 or so fine (max of £30,000) or a criminal conviction if it goes to court.

This is one of the specialisms of Landlords Defence who can assist

(Go to landlordsdefence.co.uk and book a free 10minute diagnosis call)

Reply to the comment left by Des Taylor & Phil Turtle, Landlord Licensing & Defence at 11/07/2024 - 09:45Gary did not state that the council has initiated legal proceedings against him for not having a license. He merely mentioned that he needs to obtain a license. Typically, councils will contact a landlord multiple times and provide an opportunity to apply for a license. It is in their interest to do so, as their legal costs would likely exceed the cost of the license, and there is no guarantee they would recover those costs.
Therefore, it is advisable to visit the council's website and apply for the landlord license (Landlord Tax). It is that simple. They would be too happy to receive your money and may not even bother to visit your property as it is the case in most situations.
This does not require any legal representation in my opinion.

The point Igboman that you seem not to have understood is that the OP has been committing a criminal offence for two years.

The minute that OP applied for a licence and has to submit ASTs and other documents, he immediately self-incriminates as he’s giving them evidence of letting prior to the licence application. They will then use their AI system to cross reference with council tax and 20 other databases to collect evidence of the crime being committed over a two year period.

The Coincil is now the housing police. And they are trained the same way as detectives. He will then be summoned for a PACE interview when they will use their highly trained interviewers to get further unwitting admissions of guilt

It isn’t very tricky area which we help landlords navigate on a daily basis - landlords that try to penny pinch and DIY tough legal situations they are not equipped to deal with usually leads to them getting fines in the £10,000s

But probably course the OP can chance his luck….

I rent HMOs in 2 different LA areas and find the housing team's to be pragmatic in responding to unintentional compliance/notification issues. If you are up to date with all compliance issues, electrical safety certificates, gas safety, etc and your room sizes and occupancy levels fit within the regulations, I suggest you give the selective licensing team a call to feel out what their response would be. You do not have to give your name. I feel that the fact that you had a license should count for something. Good luck.

Gary the licence is for 5 years, you may have overlooked this fact, besides the council should have sent you a reminder. If they had sent you a reminder and you did not renew, then you may have breached the licensing conditions, otherwise you may now apply for a new licence,

what I know about Selective licensing for particularly Newham, London, they first started this scheme back in 2012, so all landlords had to apply for it in 2012 or a few months before the start date, that licence period would be in force from 2012 to end of 2017, (5 Years) so a renewal licence would start in 2017 for another 5 year period.

Any late landlords or those who became landlords say in 2016, they would also have to pay the same fees as those who paid back in 2012, and these new or late landlords would get a licence for just 1 years ending in 2017, this meant late landlords paid for 4 years they were not landlords, absolutely crazy scheme and unjust.

Which year did you apply for your licence and when did it expire ?

I would tend toward Igboman's pov on this. I havent heard of Councils chasing historic offences that they didn't uncover at the time. However, they may well advise, (and help) the tenant to claim a Rent Repayment Order for 12 months rent refund

Reply to the comment left by Des Taylor & Phil Turtle, Landlord Licensing & Defence at 11/07/2024 - 09:45
Thanks for your reply.
I do realise now that I have committed an offence and need to deal with it. I haven't heard from the council and never had any reminders.
My dilemma is how to deal with the situation from here

You might not have, all depends if the scheme is still running, as Government has to authorise the scheme every 5 year term, did your council apply for the Government's approval, if so then your council is duty bound to inform all the landlords individually by emails or other method to remind you to renew your licence as the scheme is being extended for another 5 years, in your case you may have assumed that the scheme came to an end and Government had not granted your council to continue with the scheme, as you got no reminders or any other information, but all of a sudden you stumbled upon the knowledge that the scheme is still running so you became aware recently and are now applying for a licence. Your council failed in its duty to remind you that it was seeking further extension to implement this scheme, and that the Government had approved and so they should have advised all landlords to renew the licence. It cannot be your fault entirely if you were not adequately informed, public notices are barely visible these days. You have to go to the council's website to look for any public notices, as previously public notices were published in free local newspapers.

This article from Redbridge Council may help you understand how the scheme is implemented.
https://www.redbridge.gov.uk/housing/private-rentals/selective-licensing/

Thanks Mike,

I will do some research to try and find out the current situation with the council.
I appreciate you replying

you could use a dummy email address and fake name to email them to ask what their policy is such a situation for reference? That will give you an indication of how they view the situation.
Make clear that 'your friend' wants to do the right thing now, but fears repercussions for late application.

Push it back to them that surely it is best that a LL seeks a licence without fear from prosecution rather than not applying at all, if the whole point of the scheme is to 'raise property standards' as that is the reason behind the SL scheme? Make it clear it is a genuine oversight if it is (as you had a licence previously) but have absolutely no record of receiving a reminder to re apply at any point.

Se what they respond with?