Selective landlord licensing has been extended to almost 1,900 more properties in Manchester.

Since 2017, more than 3,500 homes across the city have been fully license to improve standards.

From this week, Manchester City Council said the owners and managing agents of 1,863 more flats and houses will be required to be apply for a landlord licence that will make sure these homes meet the necessary safety requirements, have the correct gas and electrical safety certification, and that they can demonstrate good management standards.

For the latest designated licensing areas, the Council has specifically targeted homes on the basis of property condition and antisocial behaviour linked to waste management problems.

The new licensing schemes across six Manchester wards, include:
• Cheetham: Flats above shops and Esmond / Avondale – 405 PRS properties
• Crumpsall: Enver Road – 147 PRS properties
• Harpurhey: Whiteway Street – 116 PRS properties
• Longsight: Heathcote / Sanby Road and Northmoor Road – 679 PRS properties
• Miles Platting & Newton Heath: Droylsden Road and Scotland Street – 373 PRS Properties
• Moss Side: Viscount Street and Heald Grove – 143 PRS properties

Cllr Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development, said: “We know that there are currently fewer regulations and therefore less protection against poor housing in the private sector than other forms of rental homes – such as social rent properties.

“This means that there a minority of landlords who we have found do not take the responsibility for their property, the safety of their tenants, nor the impact of their property on the wider community seriously enough.

“This is by no means every landlord and most work hard to make sure the properties they let are safe and of a good standard. But selective licensing is one of the ways we can hold landlords that don’t to account and drive up standards for our residents.

“We believe that everyone in Manchester deserves a safe and secure home. This is a basic right and through Selective Licensing we can work directly with landlords and their tenants to make sure this is their reality.

“And we are seeing the impact of our interventions, and more than 3,550 homes have already been licensed, removing 1,700 hazards from Manchester’s private sector homes that would otherwise still be a blight on tenants in the city.”