Landlord licensing through the back door!?

The mandatory licensing for landlords becomes more and more inevitable as Local Authorities seem unable to resist the temptation to meddle in the way landlords run their business and then control what they do.

The Housing Act 2004 introduced mandatory licensing for Housing in Multiple
Occupation.


It also introduced a little known clause which allows Local Authorities to introduce their own selective licensing schemes which affect all landlords in dedicated areas.

Property Hawk has learned this week of tough new powers being sought in Port Talbot in Wales by the local council to require landlords to obtain a license before letting out their property.

An area of Aberavon nicknamed White City is being used to pilot a new licensing scheme that will force landlords to register rented homes and bring them up to a minimum standard.

Called selective licensing, the scheme will cover just a dozen or so streets that have a disproportionately high level of anti-social behaviour, which in turn is linked to the area's large number of rented properties.


"I think it's an excellent scheme," said Aberavon councillor Anthony Taylor.

"We don't want bad landlords and if they do come in, this will give us the power to deal with them."

Chris Horne Editor of the UK's leading independent website for landlords comments:

"This potential creeping licensing and regulation of the private rental sector is typical of this governments attempt to regulate landlords through the back door. Once a percentage of local authorities have introduced their own individual licensing schemes, how long before the Government decide to make licensing mandatory for all landlords?"

The recently published Rugg report hinted at the potential for wholesale licensing of landlords in the private rental sector. If one thing is certain, this government will not be able to resist the temptation to meddle and when they do, whats the betting that they will make a hash of it?