Archive

A new borough-wide landlord licensing scheme is set to launch in the London borough of Brent on April 1, the council...

Labour has waded into the increasingly-fractious debate over the Renters Reform Bill. Activists in groups such as the Renters Reform Coalition and...

A survey of local council private rental licensing schemes says 19 selective and additional licensing schemes and consultations will be taking...

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has given what some commentators have interpreted as a sign that private rental sector licensing from councils...

A high profile lettings agent has written to his local council seeking information about an Additional Licensing scheme which has expired...

An agency has been fined by a London council for failing to licence a property it was managing. Gracechurch Property Services has...

Two massive new rental licensing schemes are set to be approved in Brighton - and part of the reason is “uninterested...

There’s to be a consultation this autumn about a proposed selective licensing regime in Scarborough. The proposal covers parts of the Castle,...

Landlords of more than 5,000 homes must register for a license and ensure their tenants have good quality housing or face...

A new action plan to tackle issues around HMOs is being drawn up by a Midlands council next week. West Northamptonshire council’s...

London letting agents and landlords have so far been hit with more than £900,000 in fines in the first half of...

  A council has told letting agents to ‘get a move on’ as it admits there’s been a slow start to its...

A left-leaning think tank which says it champions ‘left-behind Londoners’ is demanding a turbo-charged version of selective licensing to be run...

Labour is considering raising the buy to let and holiday home stamp duty surcharge above the current three per cent if...

An estate agency has been prosecuted and ordered to pay £35,000 for falling foul of property licensing rules. Green House Estate Agents...

Letting agents and landlords are invited to join a virtual forum for a further update on new licensing requirements and to...

Propertymark has written to Housing Secretary Michael Gove outlining its concerns about the latest licensing scheme proposal from a local council. The...

A London borough is tomorrow holding an online training session for agents and landlords on how to submit a licence application...

Over the next three months Redbridge council in London is consulting on proposals to renew selective licensing in the borough. It says...

A scheme which some regard as the most controversial landlord licensing regime in the country is coming under scrutiny. Labour councillors on...

An extension to a private rental property licensing scheme in London has been given the green light by the government. Haringey council’s...

A lettings agency says the cost of living crisis calls into question the viability of a selective licensing scheme in its...

A council claims that a pilot licensing scheme has discovered a very high proportion of rental homes requiring improvement. Plans to extend...

Last month’s local election results could yet impact on the private rental sector, a prominent industry supplier claims. The Association of Independent...

All private rented homes in Oxford will need a licence from this September, following a green light from the government. Some 49.3...

Two more London boroughs are consulting about licensing schemes which will require landlords or their agents to pay hundreds of pounds...

Another council is to conduct a consultation process to expand selective and additional licensing schemes for the next five years. Under existing...

Bristol council has approved plans to introduce licensing in more parts of the city. Additional Licensing and Selective Licensing schemes will be...

Consultation begins today on a selective licensing scheme for privately rented housing in 25 wards of Birmingham. Under the suggested scheme, all...

A bizarre fine imposed on a managing agent by a local authority appears to have been reversed because the council flouted...

A proposal for one of the country’s largest ever private rental sector licensing schemes has gone out to consultation. Manchester’s Labour council...

A London council has embarked on consultation over two new private rental licensing schemes - and says they are needed as...

A London council describes two new licensing schemes as ‘making renting fairer’ - even though they are launched during the pandemic. Islington’s Labour...

Earlier this week ARLA branded local councils pursuing private rental licensing during the pandemic as “socially irresponsible” - but one of...

A lettings agent has spoken out at a local council landlord licensing scheme, suggesting it might just be nothing more than...

Activists from the so-called renters’ union Acorn have held a protest outside the office of a lettings agency in Oxford. A photograph...

A major north of England local authority wants to introduce landlord licensing for HMOs where three or four tenants live, following analysis...

A private rental licensing consultancy has spotted that an additional licensing scheme run by a London borough council has now lapsed...

A new private rental licensing regime in a London borough is being described as “a major step forward in improving living...

Oxford council, which has 49 per cent of its housing stock in the private rental sector, is starting a formal consultation...

Charnwood council in the East Midlands is proposing to introduce two different licensing schemes for private landlords, with agents and others...

Greenwich council in London has resuscitated a proposal to extend its existing selective licensing regime, put on ice during the Coronavirus...

A local authority has extended its consultation process for a selective licensing system which, if it goes ahead, would see some...

Harrow council in north London has launched a formal consultation on its plan to renew its landlord licensing scheme in the...

Residents at home during lockdown who may have seen families crammed into overcrowded HMOs are being asked to report the properties...

A group of local landlords and others in the private rental sector are challenging a local authority’s licensing proposals with their...

A local authority has postponed the extension of its private rental sector licensing regime - but it’s warning agents not to...

Not-for-profit accreditation service safeagent says the government should ensure councils delay the introduction of all new private rental sector licensing schemes...

Another council is consulting on introducing a selective licensing scheme - and again it claims it will “create better housing for...

The government has given the green light to a council’s huge licensing scheme, set to cover 18 of its 20 wards...

Enfield council in London has confirmed that it will introduce borough-wide additional licensing. It is also seeking consent from the government to...

A council has prosecuted five private landlords who failed to get licences for the properties they let out. Oldham council says its...

A landlord has ended up with fines totalling over £90,000 after repeatedly ignoring a council’s selective licensing regime. Stephen Ige pleaded guilty...

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has backed a five year extension for a massive London council landlord licensing...

Officers from a local council simultaneously staged 10 dawn raids on properties owned by unlicensed landlords. All the terraced homes, in Slough,...

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has rejected a bid by Labour-controlled Liverpool council to extend its licensing scheme for five years. Government approval...

Oldham council is the latest to seek an extension of a selective licensing scheme beyond its mandatory five year term -...

A rogue landlord has been fined £1,384 for failing to get a council licence for two buy to let properties. The case...

The owner of two properties has been fined £35,000 for breaches of the selective licensiing regime in his local area.  At a...

A landlord has been hit with court fines for a fourth time for failing to properly manage his rental properties.  Landlord Jack...

The government has given an extra £3.8m to councils to come up with ways of catching rogue landlords - and in...

The government is being urged to speed up the release details of the future it sees for selective licensing following revelations...

A long-term legal critic of selective licensing is warning that letting agents could be held jointly accountable with the landlords, -...

Former QPR and Nottingham Forest striker Dexter Blackstock has been fined over £25,000 and branded a rogue landlord after admitting 12 licencing offences. He...

Research by safeagent - the new name for the National Approved Letting Scheme - has found over 130,000 unlicensed properties in...

An umbrella organisation representing councils is calling for greater freedom to introduce more and larger rental sector licensing schemes, without the...

A senior Labour politician in Sheffield and the campaign group Acorn have both expressed support for a selective licensing scheme to...

A Labour councillor on Islington council - which is controlled by the party and has Jeremy Corbyn as a local member...

Enfield wants to be the latest London council to introduce large-scale additional and selective licensing schemes which would affect most private rented...

The government has blocked a council rolling out selective licensing across no fewer than 3,000 homes in its patch.  Under Stoke on...

A local authority is being warned that its landlord licensing and accreditation scheme is potentially unlawful. The Residential Landlords Association, which represents...

Another local authority has announced that it wants to introduce another selective licensing scheme and designate its entire patch for HMO...

A London council wants to extend its private rental sector licensing scheme - and in doing so is boasting of the...

An independent review into selective licensing in the private rental sector makes a series of recommendations to tighten processes, with the...

A trade body has accused the government of going back on its promise not to introduce a national register of landlords. The...

A buy to let investor who let out an unsafe and unlicensed property in London has now been hit with a...

A lettings sector trade body has written to a council accusing it of initiating an “unlawful” fee structure for a licensing...

Consultation is underway to extend a landlord licensing scheme in a London borough where a third of households rents privately.  Three types...

The National Landlords Association says it’s concerned the Fees Ban coming into effect in just two days’ time may limit access...

Revenue raised by landlord licensing schemes should be used to enforce rental sector regulation, according to PayProp. It says that the money...

Who are you and what does it say on your business card?  My name is Daniel and I’m a director at...

A housing minister has pledged that more key reforms for the private rental sector will be revealed soon, despite Brexit political...

Leicester is the latest council to begin consultations on selective licensing in six parts of the city - with the threat...

A leading trade body says the argument that councils have insufficient powers to tackle rogue operators isn’t supported by the facts...

Another controversial scheme licensing landlords who let their homes out may face legal challenge. Middlesbrough council’s formal consultation on the introduction of...

A local authority in the Midlands has admitted what many people have believed for some time - despite a slew of...

More local authorities have announced that they want to increase the size of the areas covered by their existing selective licensing...

A legal firm has renewed its criticism of local authority licensing schemes, accusing them of “persecuting” landlords. David Kirwan, managing partner at...

A landlord who failed to comply with orders to improve the standard of a property has had to pay over £7,500...

Councils have been accused of routinely pursuing the most serious enforcement option open to them if they find a local licensing...

One of London’s most enthusiastic councils for additional and selective licensing has pushed back the date for enforcement action against landlords...

The head of a lettings agency has launched a petition in opposition to a bid by a local council to extend...

Nottingham council - which recently introduced one of the largest and most controversial selective licensing schemes in the country - now...

A buy to let investor has been forced to close down two rat infested homes he owns in Rotherham after they...

Local press reports say that one of the country’s most controversial buy to let licensing schemes has seen thousands of applications...

The Residential Landlords Association is threatening a council with a judicial review because of unresolved concerns over the authority’s selective licensing...

A council says it has been preparing prosecution and penalty notices “for hundreds of private landlords that have failed to apply...

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has made a clear pledge to tighten regulations surrounding the private rental sector. In an interview with The...

The heavy-handed administration of selective licensing schemes is driving out buy to let investors. That’s the claim from David Kirwan of Kirwans...

A landlord has been ordered to pay £452 after he breached the terms of his licence in an area of County...