Landlords have won an important victory after the Minster of State, Brandon Lewis, has announced some major reforms to Selective Licensing. The changes mean that local authorities will no longer have the power to implement borough or citywide blanket licensing schemes.
Reforms Come into Effect in April 2015
The reforms, which will come into effect on April 1st, are largely as a result of intensive lobbying by landlord groups such as the National Landlords Association. The NLA published a report in February that highlighted problems with licensing schemes.
“We’ve argued solidly since 2010 that councils have been abusing their power to push through blanket licensing schemes. Today’s announcement means that if a council intends to licence a large proportion of its housing it will first need to show the case stands up to independent scrutiny.
“Landlords are getting fed up with being unfairly targeted and made responsible for problems such as anti-social behaviour when in reality they have little effective control over the issue, except by eviction. Hopefully this now means that councils who are serious about tackling poor property standards and anti-social behaviour will first look to the extensive existing legal powers they already have to combat the issues.”
New Rules for Local Councils
Licensing schemes have become increasingly popular since 2010, but with new rules in place, councils will have to seek government approval of the selective licensing scheme would cover more than 20% of private rental homes or the council’s geographic area.
The Residential Landlords Association is also welcoming the changes.
