Archive

The coalition of 20-plus groups which have previously spoken enthusiastically about the Renters Reform Bill has now changed its mind. On April...

Environmental health officers are making a last ditch bid to save local council licensing. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health reckons that...

Landlords have only until Friday to give their views on a controversial licensing consultation from a council known for its aggressive...

Consultation time is short for landlords wanting to comment on a new licensing scheme proposed for Scunthorpe. The public consultation closes at...

Amendments to be made to the Renters Reform Bill when it returns to the Hoise of Commons next week won’t significantly...

An industry supplier is analysing licensing schemes and whether they achieve anything to improve rental housing standards. Yuno says questions need to be...

A charity is calling for landlord licensing schemes which cost enough to fund annual inspections, and the issuing of “sentencing guidelines”...

Private landlords applied for licences covering more than 12,000 homes during the first year of a controversial council’s selective licensing scheme. The...

Another council is consulting about a controversial selective licensing scheme.  North Lincolnshire council says the proposed scheme is “designed to improve housing...

A landlord has quit the private rental sector after a battle with his council over why his properties were put into...

Yet another council is consulting on whether to continue a selective licensing scheme. The scheme applies to several areas of Burnley and...

Supporters of council selective licensing start rearguard action  Some of those involved in local councils have started a campaign to save selective...

A London council is consulting on another controversial landlord licensing scheme. Barking and Dagenham council’s existing Selective Licensing Scheme has been applied to...

A landlord has warned her local authority that high charges for licensing are unaffordable without the fee being passed on to...

Bristol’s controversial Labour council is extending previous licensing schemes to other parts of the city at some £1,800 HMO per licence...

A Selective Licensing scheme proposal is out for consultation in the Scunthorpe area -  with a harsh message from a council...

A council has won an appeal to enforce a Financial Penalty Notice that was served on a landlord who let out...

A survey of local council private rental licensing schemes says 19 selective and additional licensing schemes and consultations will be taking...

A legal services provider is claiming that landlords risk criminal prosecution for breaches of licensing rules that are often “unreasonable and...

New additional and selective licensing schemes are to be considered by the controversial Bristol city council. The council’s Labour Mayor - Marvin...

A council claims “hundreds of residents have been made safer in their homes” thanks to a licencing regime. Sheffield council insists the...

Amendments to the Renters Reform Bill, designed to give landlords more protection, have won the backing of a prominent industry figure. Neil Cobbold,...

The National Residential Landlords Association is urging MPs to back what it describes as “pragmatic” changes to the Renters Reform Bill...

A Labour-controlled council is inviting private rental sector representatives to a round-table event which it pledges will not be a talking...

An additional licensing scheme for HMOs has come into effect in a London borough.  The new scheme will cover properties in Greenwich which...

A new council licensing scheme has been given the go ahead by the government. Peterborough council’s selective licensing scheme will be run...

It’s emerged that Housing Secretary approved yet another vast landlord licensing system just days before Christmas. On December Gove gave approval to...

Gedling council in Nottinghamshire is launching a consultation to renew yet another selective licensing scheme. The scheme was launched in 2018 and...

Landlords providing much-needed private rented accommodation in part of Merseyside are to fall under an expanded  licensing regime.  Wirral councillors have voted...

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has campaigned for a selective licensing regime in her Leeds constituency. She joined the city council leader...

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health has given a warm welcome to many of the provision in the Renters Reform Bill...

Councils in Greater Manchester admit to charging landlords over £14,000 for “officer time” involved in licensing schemes. There are currently eight selective...

Almost all landlords letting out properties in a London borough will soon be legally required to have a selective license. It’s one...

A controversial licensing scheme is due to come into force tomorrow - just as the council administering it has declared itself...

Stockton-on-Tees is the latest council seeking people's views on the introduction of Selective Licensing for private rented housing. It launched a consultation...

A north of England council says it’s reviewing the fees for its selective licensing scheme “in terms of potential impact on...

A landlord has been ordered to pay almost £50,000 for failing to adhere to licensing legal requirements on several rental properties,...

Plans to introduce Selective Licensing of privately rented properties have been agreed by leading Stockton-on-Tees councillors and now go for consultation. Under...

Blackpool council will next week consider a new selective licensing scheme for some of the town’s privately rented properties. The scheme will...

A council is telling landlords that its new selective licensing fee is so low it should be entirely tax deductible and...

Brent council in North London has launched a new selective licensing regime across part of the borough. Landlords who let properties in the...

A London council is looking to introduce new licensing for landlords. Currently Wandsworth council operates mandatory licensing for HMOs with five or...

Landlords are being advised to be on their guard and not be duped by social media messages urging them to flout...

Bristol’s Labour-controlled council says it wants to spend some £17m of local council tax payers’ money on two new licensing schemes...

A Labour council says local landlords have only a week to apply for a licence before a big rise in the...

A London council is telling landlords that if they don’t apply for a licence in the next nine days they face...

Landlords are unwittingly exposing their tenants to the serious danger of fire because they opt for the cheaper option when hiring...

A statement from Oxford’s Labour controlled council says private landlords in the city have under a month to apply for a...

A controversial licensing scheme will come into force this winter with the blessing of Housing Secretary Michael Gove. Nottingham council’s selective licensing...

Landlords providing accommodation on the Wirral are likely to get further licensing as a new consultation goes ahead.  The proposals suggest continuing...

Landlords of more than 5,000 homes must register for a license and ensure their tenants have good quality housing or face...

Southwark’s Labour council has won the backing of Housing Secretary Michael Gove for one of the largest private landlord licensing schemes...

A new law requiring landlords in three wards of the London borough of Brent to pay for a selective licence will...

London landlords and letting agents have so far been hit with more than £900,000 in fines in the first half of...

One of London’s most aggressive landlord licensing regimes says it has an early-bird offer running until July 14. Landlords applying for Newham...

This year is set to bring sweeping rental reforms that will change the face of lettings forever. Landlords should be following...

Labour is considering raising the buy to let and holiday home stamp duty surcharge above the current three per cent if...

One of the country’s largest landlord licensing regimes has expanded even more this week. Some 700 more private sector homes in Manchester...

Next Thursday voters up and down the country will be casting their votes in a series of local elections which are...

Landlords are exiting the market in droves. According to an accountancy firm who analysed HMRC data, 70,000 buy-to-let landlords left the sector...

There have been no fewer than 10 different enquiries into selective licensing of landlords or rental properties by local councils -...

A council launching a new selective licensing regime admits that three quarters of the applicants so far have omitted to provide...

Charnwood council in the East Midlands is now accepting applications from landlords of private rented properties that are covered by two...

A private landlord has been ordered to pay more than £1,000 by magistrates for failing to properly licence a rented property. The...

Landlords and letting agents are invited to join a virtual forum for details of a new licensing requirements and to find...

Labour controlled Nottingham council is introducing a new licensing scheme - and tells landlords not to raise rents to pay the...

The local media in Yorkshire says Labour’s Rachel Reeves - the Shadow Chancellor - is campaigning for the introduction of a...

It’s claimed that Liverpool’s Labour council would take almost 150 years to process applications for its landlord licensing scheme. The council has...

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health has written to Housing Secretary Michael Gove urging him to make it easier for councils...

A Labour council introducing a vast new licensing regime claims its typical cost to a landlord would be just 0.5 per...

A new property licensing scheme that claims to provide “safer, well managed housing for renters” has now come into force in...

A borough-wide consultation on landlord licensing for privately rented properties in Brent is taking place for the next 12 weeks.  The online...

A Selective Licensing scheme introduced by a council back in 2016 is set for expansion.  Middlesbrough council claims that its scheme has...

Landlords in one part of the country are being told they must apply for their selective license in just the next six...

A new selective licensing scheme has been launched this week in Leicester.  The scheme will be in operation in three main cluster...

Landlords and agents are being asked their views on proposals to expand Selective Licensing to eight new areas of Manchester. There are...

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities has approved a London council’s plan to introduce a new private rented property...

Greenwich council in south London has launched a new selective licensing scheme: all private-rented single-household properties in five wards of the...

From November Gedling council in Nottinghamshire wants its Selective Licensing extended to four additional wards.  This follows a pilot where over 78...

Birmingham council has been granted permission by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to introduce a massive Selective Licensing...

Oxford’s private rented sector faces its biggest shake up in over a decade with the start of a new licensing scheme...

Activists in the Acorn group is hoping to attract Labour councillors who run Leeds to a meeting next week, which will...

With a month to go until a new licensing scheme for private rented homes starts, Oxford council is urging landlords to...

New selective licensing measures are to be introduced across three parts of Leicester in a new clampdown on landlords. The combined areas...

A council says it’s launching a rolling programme of inspections of all 29,000 rental properties in its selective licensing scheme. The scheme...

London-focussed lettings agency Douglas & Gordon gives its rundown on what new landlords should know to get the most out of...

A new Selective Licensing scheme for private landlords in Nottingham has been approved by the city council and now goes for...

A council has imposed fines on five landlords for licensing breaches. Doncaster’s Selective Licensing scheme was introduced - so the council claims...

It’s now daggers-drawn between the National Residential Landlords Association and Oxford’s Labour-run council over a huge new licensing scheme. Government approval of...

Another council is conducting a consultation process aimed at renewing its existing landlord licensing for a further five years. Sefton council has...

A consultation is underway into the extension of yet another private landlord licensing scheme for a further five years. Since March 2018...

The government has given the green light to two selective licensing schemes in areas of Burnley. The previous five-year schemes expired at...

Gedling council in Nottinghamshire is the latest local authority to resume consultations on Selective Licensing after putting initial proposals on ice...

In this guides and tips piece, Kerry Barber, head of Compliance at Goodlord, and Leanne McCarthy, claims facilitator at Goodlord, discuss why this month's...

All private rented homes in Oxford will need a licence from this September, following a green light from the government. Some 49.3...

A council is considering imposing Banning Orders on unregulated and ‘informal’ landlords who have no lettings background and who advertise on...

A Labour city council that has already called for powers to impose rent controls has now extended its existing landlord licensing...

A council is launching a Private Tenants Charter which it says will set standards for landlords and private rental sector organisations...

Oxford’s Labour-run council has called on private renters to join a new tenants union. A statement from the authority says some private...

In a surprise move, a local authority has suspended a consultation process into a proposed selective licensing scheme following criticisms.  The leader...