A south coast landlord association has launched a parliamentary petition challenging selective licensing rules that it says have expanded councils’ powers and have led to schemes that are ‘extremely heavy-handed’.

The group also claims such schemes are negatively impacting both tenants’ rights and landlords’ competitiveness.

Portsmouth & District Private Landlords Association wants the 2015 government order that expanded local authorities’ powers to be revoked, as it has been implemented without proper democratic oversight and is having serious consequences for both property owners and tenants.

“It is scandalous that most of these schemes are justified on criteria defined through secondary legislation lacking any parliamentary scrutiny,” says the petition’s author, Simon Fletcher (main image).

“The 2015 Order defined four more conditions that are now used by councils up and down the country to justify schemes that are, to my mind, really insidious.”

The undertone seems to be that selective licencing can be utilised to reduce the quantity of housing available to migrants.”

Fletcher raises serious concerns about the potential misuse of the licensing powers, suggesting they are potentially being used to change the makeup of neighbourhoods.

He warns: “The undertone seems to be that selective licencing can be utilised to reduce the quantity of housing available to migrants in the cheapest neighbourhoods.

Overstepping their authority

He argues that many councils are overstepping their authority with these schemes by “over-interpreting what powers are construed through the 2015 Order” in ways that were never intended when it was made law.

Fletcher believes that many councils are also often implementing schemes to raise revenue rather than improve housing.

“My impression is that councils are increasingly turning to programmes that are categorised as ‘self-funding’ so that they can be seen to be doing something when core activities are being cut due to budget constraints,” he says.

Fletcher adds that some councils are imposing “licence fees of £900 or more even for the smallest flats.” And he warns that it is not just landlords who will bear the burden.

“The cost of a selective scheme, both the licence fees and all the work that goes into dealing with the council by landlords and agents, has to be borne through higher rents or reduced maintenance expenditure or a combination of the two.”

The landlord association is urging fellow landlords and property professionals to support their campaign by signing the parliamentary petition.