Nottingham City Council has been criticised for targeting responsible landlords whilst doing little to clampdown on rogue operators in the local PRS. 

The council’s private rental licensing scheme has been branded a ‘farce’ by the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) after new figures revealed that just 2.7% of all applications for a license had been approved in a year. 

Fresh data provided to the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee show that of the 17,523 applications for a licence received between August 2018 and August 2019, just 472 final licences had been issued.

The council estimates a total of 24,000 applications are eventually likely to have been received since the introduction of a Selective Licensing Scheme across many parts of the city in August last year. 

The RLA is now  calling on the council to scrap what it sees as a ‘pointless’ scheme, as part of its effort to see all licensing initiatives scrapped. 

The RLA has compiled a manifesto that it hopes all political parties will take note of ahead of the general election, setting out key priorities for the industry. 

David Smith, policy director for the RLA, commented: “Nottingham Council cannot have it both ways. Either it believes landlord licences are important, in which case they should process applications promptly, or they do not, in which case they should scrap what amounts to a money making scheme.

“The reality is that the council is targeting responsible landlords whilst doing nothing to find and root out bad landlords who will have no intention of applying for a licence. This is purely a money making bureaucratic exercise which will not benefit tenants in any way. ”