Government makes it harder to license landlords

Reforms to the Selective Licensing scheme, announced last week by Brandon Lewis (left), the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, will further restrict local decision making powers making it harder for councils to license landlords. Since 2010, local councils have had the power to licence landlords across an entire borough or jurisdiction in order to combat issues such as anti-social behaviour in so-called ‘hotspot areas’. However, the changes, which come into force on 1 April 2015, will mean that councils will require Government approval before implementing a licensing scheme if they plan to license a large area or proportion of the market – likely to be above 20 per cent of either the geographical area covered by the council or the local private rented sector (PRS). The decision appears to have been influenced by sustained lobbying efforts by various organisations, including the National Landlord Association (NLA), which published its report on the state of landlord licensing across the country in February. The report points to a boom in the number of blanket licensing schemes since 2010 but highlights a lack of enforcement actions being taken by local councils. It also shows a correlation between the political control of a…