By Chris Chambers, 6th Jan 2013
The prospect of compulsory landlord licensing is becoming more and more of a reality unfortunately. Scotland already have this in place (it's a criminal offence to be an unlicensed landlord and the penalty for offenders can be a fine up to £50,000 - in Scotland you also are legally bound to inform the authorities when you instruct a letting agent!). Newham Council in London now charge £500 per property and they have a schedule of other charges for associated administration. Liverpool are now submitting plans to introduce similar fees and charges.
Why?
Well the rational is that it will weed out unscrupulous landlords since the award of a license will be coupled with the requirement to adhere to a set of minimum standards. This sounds plausible but there are significant flaws to my mind; why is the landlord charged per property instead of just once? Who is going to police the minimum set of standards? (A dodgy landlord could surely do enough to obtain a license initially and then drop his standards?) Professional landlords will simply transfer the cost of the licence onto the rent thus inflating an already expensive rental (and increasing) market for prospective tenants; if would-be tenants are put off renting then will there be more and more people staying at home living with their parents instead of migrating around the country and contributing to the economy in places that suit their training and expertise. What about landlords? Renting and lettings is becoming ever increasingly difficult and this is likely to further deter potential landlords from offering up quality homes for the private rental sector.
Landlord licensing: It's a silly idea that's not well thought out and the benefits will not outweigh the flaws. We have a comprehensive structure of landlord and tenant law in this country; surely that should suffice? Oh silly me - that won't raise cheap, easy money for local authority coffers. www.proudhouseproperty.co.uk