A compliance expert is criticising local councils for penalising landlords thousands of pounds because they’ve been caught out by HMO red tape.

Phil Turtle, the compliance director at Landlord Licensing & Defence, says a growing practice among local authorities is to fine landlords who have simply ticked the wrong box on House in Multiple Occupation application forms.

He claims that in a recent case handled by the firm, the council used this exact tactic to fine a landlord more than £5,000.

The landlord only became vulnerable to a fine because the council chose to refund his licence fee on the basis thathe had applied for the ‘wrong sort of HMO licence’.

The firm says that other councils are rejecting HMO applications where a landlord inadvertently uses an ‘additional’ licensing form instead of a ‘mandatory’ form, or vice versa.

This is despite the schemes actually requiring the same physical licences and identical conditions.

By rejecting the application and refunding the fee – which is allegedly often done without notifying the landlord – the council effectively removes the landlord’s statutory protection of having an ‘application duly made’ under the Housing Act 2004.

Once that protection is gone, councils are promptly issuing Civil Penalty Fines for the operation of an unlicensed HMO.

Turtle says: “Whilst we achieved a reduction in this case, the council refused to accept they had created the situation.

“They have no right in law to refuse an HMO licence application simply because it was the ‘wrong sort’ of HMO application, but they are unregulated, unaccountable and frankly landlord-hating.

“It is the classic equivalent of British Rail blaming ‘the wrong sort of snow’ on the line.”

He continues: “Sadly, the landlord was not prepared to take this to the First-tier Tribunal because of the severe reputational damage that a public airing would inflict on their business, which would have carried a far greater impact than the fine itself.

“Effectively, a landlord was bullied into accepting the council’s unlawful action as their own guilt!”

Under the Housing Act 2004, there is no legal justification for a local authority to refuse or refund an HMO licence application that has otherwise been duly made just because the landlord did not understand the difference between two identical schemes or ticked the wrong box.

“It’s obviously morally repugnant” adds Turtle. 

“The licences for most councils are exactly the same and rarely state whether they are mandatory or additional on the final document.

“By acting in this manner, councils are acting unlawfully and, as will surprise no-one, immorally.

“They are using pure bureaucracy as a weapon to generate enforcement revenue rather than to improve housing standards.”