Government plans to make it easier for councils to introduce landlord licensing schemes have been slammed by the main rental trade body.
The Government has announced that from December 23, local authorities in England will no longer be required to obtain confirmation from the Secretary of State before implementing a selective licensing scheme of any size.
Chris Norris, Policy Director for the National Residential Landlords Association, says: “It makes no sense that whilst planning to create a national database of private landlords, the Government now wants to make it easier for councils to license landlords as well.
“Ministers must clarify how they plan to prevent the two schemes from duplicating each other. A failure to do so risks them becoming nothing more than cash cows.
“The Government’s plans will remove important safeguards against misuse of council licensing powers. It absolves ministers of any responsibility and will give local authorities free rein to blanket entire towns with unnecessary and costly schemes.
“Data from 2021 to 2023 shows that seven of the top ten most proactive councils issuing improvement notices to private sector landlords did not have selective licensing schemes in place. This clearly demonstrates that licensing schemes do not automatically lead to higher levels of enforcement by councils.”
The Renters’ Rights Bill, currently going through Parliament, gives the Government the power to establish a national database of private rented sector landlords and properties.
The Government’s explanatory note to accompany the Bill notes that the database will: “bring together key information for landlords, tenants, and councils.” It continues: “Tenants will be able to access key information to inform choices when entering new tenancies, promoting greater transparency and accountability. It will also support landlords to understand their obligations and demonstrate compliance. In addition, councils will be able to use the database to target enforcement where it is needed most, against the minority of unscrupulous landlords.”
Data collected by the NRLA under the Freedom of Information Act has found that between 2021 and 2023 for councils across England there was no clear link between the presence of a selective licensing scheme and greater use of improvement notices by local authorities to improve property standards.
This article is taken from Landlord Today