Yet another local authority is starting a formal consultation on a proposal to introduce landlord licensing.
Southwark council says its proposals are a bid to tackle what it calls anti social behaviour and to drive up standards in Southwark's private rental sector.
The scheme has two separate components, additional licensing for smaller Houses in Multiple Occupations and selective licensing for privately let flats and houses in defined areas where there is - the council claims - a link to anti social behaviour.
In addition the council is consulting on the HMO standards which are applied in the borough.
Under the new scheme, landlords will be required to obtain a license for letting out a property; so far the council has not given a price. The council says it hopes to bring about a culture within the privately rented sector which improves the standards of properties let, improves the management of those properties and reduces the steady rise in anti-social behaviour often linked to poorly managed properties.
Some 25 per cent of Southwark's population lives in 28,000 privately managed properties and the Greater London Authority predicting demand will rise to nearly 44,000 by 2025.
The consultation is open for anyone living, visiting, working or renting out in Southwark, and will finish on December 19.
Comments
Just WHO will they 'consult'
This proposal is another easy money grabbing scheme, which will achieve little, based on the popular but incorrect belief that most landlords and/or agents exploit tenants - they do not. In any case legislation already exists for the matters quoted