Local authorities will be able to introduce licensing schemes in England and Northern Ireland without asking for permission from the secretary of state – a move that’s controversial with real estate associations.
Chris Norris, policy director for the National Residential Landlords Association, expressed frustration that the UK government appears to want to regulate landlords both regionally and nationally. Meanwhile Ian Fletcher, director of policy (real estate), British Property Federation, accused the schemes of being overly bureaucratic, adding that they punish good landlords as well as bad.
Norris said: “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 only requirement for the licensing schemes is they can only be introduced if there are problems with low housing demand or persistent anti-social behaviour problems, the guidance clarified.
Fletcher said: “One area where we have a concern is the proposal to allow councils to set up selective licensing schemes without Secretary of State approval.
“Selective licensing should be a targeted tool that is used by local authorities to tackle the worst landlords operating the worst standards. Unfortunately, at present it is too much of a scattergun that catches the best landlords as well as the worst.
“Through its loosening of policy today, good landlords will fear that the government has made such schemes even more indiscriminate.
“We would urge the government to think more about how to reduce the bureaucracy of such schemes, simplify processes, and grant exemptions where there is no need to license. Care will need to be taken to ensure that local schemes support the supply of new high-quality rented homes.”