Will city scrap huge landlord licensing scheme

Liverpool city council says it is looking very closely at the wording of a government letter about its pioneering plan to force all landlords to sign up to a licensing scheme.

The council is the only one in the country to introduce a blanket licensing scheme - believed to apply to around 5,000 landlords who own 50,000 private sector rental properties. Under the scheme the council determines that any landlord to be granted a licence (for which the landlord pays up to £500 per property) must be a fit and proper' person.

As with the licensing schemes introduced in many other local authorities, Liverpool's landlords have to meet a variety of conditions around fire, electric and gas safety; rectify disrepair issues; tackle pest infestations; keep the exterior in a good state of repair and deal with complaints about anti-social behaviour caused by tenants.

The scheme was introduced following a consultation which produced 2,000 responses; the council claims the significant majority of respondents were in favour.

However, the council has now received a letter from Brandon Lewis, minister for housing and planning, saying the blanket approach is flawed, and forces perfectly good landlords to pass the costs of the licences on to tenants. Any such scheme introduced from April 1 must receive ministerial approval first - but of course Liverpool's is already underway.

The Liverpool Echo newspaper says the council suggests that so far 1,341 landlords who between them manage 5,870 properties have registered their details.