Selective licensing schemes fail to improve standards and burden landlords with high costs

Selective licensing schemes fail to improve standards and burden landlords with high costs

0:01 AM, 10th January 2025, About 7 hours ago

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Selective licensing schemes do not raise standards and cost landlords thousands of pounds, claims Yuno.

The property compliance firm reveals 37 local authorities across England currently have a consultation on selective licensing.

The prices for a selective licence vary across the country with a licence costing £350 in Ashfield compared to £1,255 in Leeds.

Rigged consultations

New rules from the government mean local authorities in England and Northern Ireland have the power to introduce selective licensing schemes without seeking approval from the Secretary of State.

Landlords could be fined up to £30,000 for failing to have a selective licence.

Paul Conway, chief executive of Yuno, said: “Selective licensing schemes have not always raised standards as intended.

“The upcoming rule changes mean councils can act faster and further, requiring only 10 weeks of consultation in many cases which will mean landlords may not see a new licensing scheme coming until the last moment.”

Phil Turtle, a director of Landlord Licensing & Defence, says selective licensing scheme consultations are biased.

He said: “All councils have to do is one of their meaningless and rigged ‘consultations’ with almost always a totally unrepresentative sample of stakeholders, almost zero input from landlords or tenants and questions that don’t even hide the fact they are designed to get the answers the local authority needs to do what it intends to do anyway regardless of the opinions of stakeholders.”

Landlords need to stay up-to-date

Areas under consultation for a selective licensing scheme or soon to be affected include Blackpool, Lancaster, Reading, Salford, and multiple London boroughs including Wandsforth and Westminster.

Yuno is urging landlords to stay up-to-date with compliance and suggests landlords consider a full management option through a letting agent to help keep up to date with all the new rules and regulations.


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