A council is telling landlords that its new selective licensing fee is so low it should be entirely tax deductible and shouldn’t justify a rent rise for tenants.
Brighton and Hove’s Labour council is proposing to charge landlords an application fee of £670 plus£2.57 a week. A discount of £75 would apply to properties with an energy performance certificate rating of C or above along with a reduced weekly fee of £2.29.
Anyone failing to apply for a licence would be liable to pay a £760 “prompted fee”.
Councillor Andrei Czolak has told local media: “The arguments we often encounter against licensing schemes is the notion that it would lead landlords to raise rents to cover the costs.
“…We expect the proposed fee structure to be reasonable enough such that the fees would be fully tax deductible. That should mean there is no need for landlords to raise rents in response to these costs.”
Now the proposal is out for a consultation lasting 12 weeks.
If approved Brighton and Hove council plans to start the scheme in four wards initially, involving around 4,000 rental properties.
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Landlords don't increase rent on the basis of one specific extra cost. It's the combination of numerous costs and price rises. Insurance goes up, gas safety checks go up, boiler cover goes up, window cleaning, gardening, gutter unblocking and repairs all go up, mortgage costs go up a lot.
£670 plus an extra £133 a year isn't too small to bother about when it is lumped on top of all the other costs and price increases landlords face.
Tax deductible doesn't mean free. It's about time Councils realised the PRS does the job of housing people somewhat more professionally than most Councils have ever managed largely because we realise we have to make it work financially.
So...if it's tax deductible etc, are the social housing sector having to do this? They seem.to get away with all sorts of horrors without any problem or recourse, until.it ends in tragedy. This is clearly just a money grab, putting in.place a "standing charge" of a weekly amount...why? What do we get for that on a weekly basis?
£803 a year is not an insignificant amount. It's £66.92 a month- straight onto the tenants rent. Regardless of whether it's
" tax deductible" or not. Has this lefty loon not heard of Section 24 and paying tax on a loss?
I don’t think the application fee is annual but I add all SL costs onto my rents out of principle.
Councils yet again showing abysmal lack of business knowledge and acumen.
Fully tax deductible means that between 55% and 80% of the cost will be borne directly by the landlord or the tenant - and in the current seller's market it will be the tenants that bear any additional costs imposed by Councils, mortgage companies, energy suppliers etc.
The Council should pay for the Licensing Schemes, it they who wants them, causing a housing crisis and homelessness raking in billions then turn around and say they are making a loss on the Licensing Scheme’s well that’s easy to remedy scrap it.
I suppose that would cost them too much as well.
The Council have a magic money tree the landlord or Tenants doesn’t. The fee is a significant amount and only the start, the spurious discount is
laughably they are offering you a discount on a cost that wasn’t there before and hey presto it’s a benefit to you. The Mandatory HM0 Scheme started at £598.00 for me but now it’s increased to £1’600.00 per application in Harrow. So before you could get a £75, Discount if you were a member of a LL Association, then they seemed to drop that. They then were offering you a discount £75, Discount if you were an Accredited Landlord, now they are offering you a £75 Discount if you have EPC “C” give me a break what about all the other costs not mention associated with the licensing Schemes. C/tax up again 4.99%, ULEZ hitting landlords and Tenants big time in London its a tax (thousands pa) to run a business or to go work, alternatively maybe we could get one of those eBikes from the scrap yard or fish one out of the Grand Union Canal.
Mr Khan is some man he’d even give Mr Gove a run for his money, taking a bite of several hundreds pounds from every c/tax payer in London every year, just add ULEZ.
He’s going to save the World and China opening a Coal Powered Electric Generating Station every week.
If it’s fully tax deductible and won’t make a difference why dont they foot the bill for their license schemes. Absolute nonsense the left just has wishful thinking and it never adds up. On any debate put a calculator on the table and it all falls apart
Most of the Local councils in the UK are now running with a deficit, many owing millions of pounds, and politicians want to tell landlords how to run a buisness?
Absolutely, hardly a fine example to show us, are they? But they fail to see the hypocrisy...or cant see it 🙅
Tenants are already taxpayers and vice versa. Just another landlord bashing tactic from councils who blame everyone but themselves for inefficiency, and in some cases incompetence.
This idea of "fully tax deductible" shows yet again the complete incompetence of these councillors. I still have to pay it the fact I can reduce the amount by a small percentage doesn't mean I am not worse off if I don't pass that charge on.
I'm fed up with the willful stupidity of the politicians we have today. If this scrounger has not got a clue on the basics, what hope does the country have if they get elected?
We've seen the chaos in Scotland under the SNP in Housing and now Wales, unfortunately the young have been brainwashed by these idiots who have convinced them the world owes them something for nothing, and it they don't get it then there's an "ist" for that.
This is about bankrupt councils picking any pockets they can get away with. Legalised theft. Plain and simple.
Most Labour councils are absolutely morally bankrupt, not seen one good one yet. Then again I could say that about most politicians....
What planet is Brighton and Hove on please?
Or has Andrei Czolak been on those funny cigarettes?
Ffs DON'T VOTE LABOUR!!!
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