Newham Council in East London started the trend and now Liverpool Council is
set to follow. As of Friday 22nd November, the council has begun a
consultation process that will last twelve weeks. If the licensing scheme goes
ahead (and it is likely that it will go ahead), at some point after the
beginning of April 2014, all rental homes in Liverpool will need a compulsory
licence.
Stamping Out Rogue Landlords
The council is justifying the introduction of a compulsory blanket license
scheme by stating that the scheme will help to eradicate the problem of poorly
managed properties in the city. Although they admit that the vast majority of
landlords in Liverpool manage their properties extremely well, there are a
small minority who fail to deal with anti-social behaviour such as noise and
rubbish strewn gardens.
Ann O’Byrne, who is the Liverpool council’s cabinet minister for housing, was
quoted as saying: “It’s vital that we do all we can to work with landlords
across Liverpool to drive up the quality of our private rented properties.”
Building Positive Landlord Relationships
The council hopes to improve buy to let in the city and develop a “good
quality private rented sector which tenants can be confident in…” And through
the introduction of a licensing scheme, they hope to build good working
relationships with local landlords in the city.
Cost of Landlord Licensing
Although the council has yet to say how much they intend on charging buy to
let landlords, it is likely that the fees will be similar to those charged by
Newham Council–£500 for a single 5-year license and four times that for an
HMO license.
