London borough reveals UK’s most expensive selective licensing scheme
Landlords and letting agents face tough licensing conditions and a £923 fee for the five-year scheme.
Letting agents and landlords in one of London’s biggest boroughs are to face an almost borough-wide selective schemes following a consultation launched by Lambeth.
It wants to introduce a £923 per property scheme in 23 of its 25 wards beginning in September 2024 with a four-ward scheme in the southern end of the borough (Streatham Common & Vale, Knight’s Hill, Streatham St Leonard’s and Streatham Hill East).
This will not need permission from Whitehall but the council then wants to add a further 19 wards in 2025, which will require the Secretary of State’s approval.
The stepped approach is to allow the council to tackle the areas with the worst housing conditions first.
Lambeth says it wants to hear the views of landlords, tenants and letting agents on the scheme.
Most expensive
But many may wonder why Lambeth has decided to charge so much, which will make it the most expensive selective licencing scheme in the UK.
Lambeth has form here – it already operates London’s most expensive HMO licencing scheme.
Cllr Maria Kay (pictured), Lambeth’s Cabinet Member for Housing & Homelessness, says: “We have already taken significant action to tackle poor standards in the private rented sector, and although most landlords operating in Lambeth provide our residents with decent, well managed and safe homes, we continue to uncover renters living in hazardous and unacceptable conditions.
““We are focussed on improving health and wellbeing and reducing inequalities for people in Lambeth. That’s why we have launched our consultation on the private rented property sector as part of our commitment to addressing these issues.”
The licence will require landlords to meet 22 conditions and, if they are not able to, must use a letting agent or other third party to run the property instead. Read more about Lambeth’s licencing push.
The consultation runs until Monday 4 March 2023.
This is the problem with Selective Licensing.
She’s just said it:
although most landlords operating in Lambeth provide our residents with decent, well managed and safe homes
So WHY oh why has ALL Landlords got to pay £923 then? Cause their houses will now be worse as less funds & rents increases for innocent tenants.
Great idea.
That should really sort the supply problem out and encourage more landlords to rent their proprieties……………. Oh the irony.
The private rental sector is sliding into the sand and our ‘elected representatives’ continue to drive the ship headlong into the iceberg.
The scary thing is Lambeth couldn’t run a bath, how they’re going to run a borough wide selective license scheme is beyond belief.
The launch and implementation of their ‘Additional HMO’ scheme has been an utter shambles….