Consultation begins today on a selective licensing scheme for privately rented housing in 25 wards of Birmingham.

Under the suggested scheme, all private landlords in a designated area would require a licence to rent property.  

The council claims it recognises the good work of many private sector landlords in providing quality accommodation for their tenants and says “we understand the difficulties landlords face and we want to help them to offer long terms sustainable tenancies.”

Commenting on the scheme Councillor Shabrana Hussain, responsible for homes, says: “Poorer quality housing and high levels of crime and deprivation have a massive effect on all of us.  This scheme will contribute to the city council’s priority of introducing more enforcement and licensing within the private rented sector.  I would encourage everyone to provide their views on the proposed scheme. It is only through listening to our residents and communities that we can ensure the licensing scheme focuses on what matters to local residents.”

The proposed wards have been identified as having a high proportion of private rented housing and deprivation.  

The Labour-led council says the new scheme, if approved, would “ensure that all privately rented properties in the designated area are of a satisfactory standard . would ensure landlords operating illegally are identified and enable those properties to be targeted for inspection … [and] would also provide a level playing field for good landlords and reduce the risk of exploitation of tenants.”

The consultation runs for 10 weeks and you can participate in it here.