The recent unveiling by several London councils of selective licensing schemes should raise concerns among private sector landlords – especially ‘amateur’ landlords.

Amateur landlords, or ‘accidental landlords’ are the ones who inherit a property or move in with a partner and decide to rent out the property.

They may not have lots of experience as a landlord and simply want to pay the mortgage or earn money by having tenants.

New schemes, or the expansion of current schemes, have been revealed by the councils of Brent, Lambeth, Lewisham and Islington.

Phil Turtle, a legal expert at Landlord Licensing & Defence points to the licensing scheme in Brent and says: “The scheme requires landlords to pay £840 to Brent Council, which in return issues a council licence.

“This licence is filled with draconian conditions that, if not complied with, can result in criminal offences punishable at Level 5 on the criminal scale, leading to unlimited fines and a criminal record.

“Landlords, particularly those who are not legally trained, do not realise the implications of these licence conditions until it is too late.

“The occupancy of their properties may also be reduced in their licence below that permitted by legislation, leading to further fines for the council’s coffers.

“No-one understands why councils across the land are on a mission to reduce the number of people who can live in each property but at Landlord Licensing & Defence we see it happening more and more.”

He says the schemes are targeting two groups of landlords: The first group includes good landlords who already comply with most regulations and provide decent accommodation so are being charged simply to confirm they are doing a decent job (and make them liable to prosecution for many more things).

The second group includes amateur or accidental landlords who, despite providing decent accommodation, may fall prey to heavy fines due to their lack of awareness about the licensing schemes.

Turtle says: “Interestingly, landlords providing substandard housing, who deliberately avoid licensing their properties, seem to escape the council’s enforcement efforts.

“Despite the billions earned by councils from licensing schemes, the number of actual rogue landlords found and enforced against is minimal. Instead, the councils target well-meaning landlords and maliciously brand them as rogue landlords when they are nothing of the sort.”

Turtle believes the licensing fee is a significant burden, particularly for smaller landlords.

Those landlords may also be liable for hefty fines for non-compliance – which can be up to £30,000 per offence.

Turtle continues: “This raises ethical concerns, as these landlords often provide good-quality housing.

“We are concerned that the schemes prioritise easy targets – responsible and inexperienced landlords – over those deliberately providing poor housing.

“That then raises massive doubts about the scheme’s effectiveness in addressing the core issue of substandard housing.”

Landlord Licensing & Defence says councils should prioritise a transparent and evidence-based approach to improving housing standards. They should also collaborate with landlords and invest in targeted enforcement against landlords offering poor quality housing as a more effective approach.