A Nottingham-based landlord who has been renting to benefit recipients for the past three decades is selling 11 properties after becoming frustrated with the council’s selective licensing scheme, claiming it is hitting him with thousands in fees despite his attempts to protect his long-term tenants.

Mick Roberts (pictured), who describes himself as “Nottingham’s biggest provider to benefits tenants”, says he has ‘had enough’ of the council’s selective licensing policies. He is selling properties where tenants have lived for up to 22 years, some of which are paying below market-rate rent.

Rather than putting properties on the open market for maximum profit, he is trying to find buyers who will keep the existing tenants in place – a process he claims is costing him £20,000.

We’ve got a landlord here bending over backwards, prepared to lose money in order to keep his tenants safe, yet there is zero help from the council.”

He says: “The money is not the problem, it’s the principle. We’ve got a landlord here bending over backwards, prepared to lose money in order to keep his tenants safe, yet there is zero help from the council.”

Nottingham’s selective licensing scheme covers 30,000 properties, and when it was introduced, it required landlords to pay an initial instalment of £219 per property plus a second instalment of £416, which is now due. With 11 properties in the licensing area, Roberts is facing a potential bill of £4,906.

The council has granted him three-month exemptions on six properties where sales progress is being made, but Roberts must still pay fees for five properties which are proving difficult to sell. Selective licences cannot be transferred to new landlords, meaning he faces paying for licences on properties he may not own for much longer.

‘No clue’

Roberts says: “If they think two lots of three-month extensions is the answer to keep a tenant safe who has been in their home 22 years, paying below market rent… then Nottingham City Council have no clue how housing works.”

A Nottingham City Council spokesperson says Roberts “has been given ample time to progress his applications” and that “landlords are still expected to comply with the legal requirements of the scheme, including the payment of fees, unless a valid exemption applies.”