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

All private rented homes in Oxford will need a licence from this September, following a green light from the government. Some 49.3...
28 April 2022
From: Breaking News

Two more London boroughs are consulting about licensing schemes which will require landlords or their agents to pay hundreds of pounds...
31 March 2022
From: Breaking News

Another council is to conduct a consultation process to expand selective and additional licensing schemes for the next five years. Under existing...
28 March 2022
From: Breaking News

Bristol council has approved plans to introduce licensing in more parts of the city. Additional Licensing and Selective Licensing schemes will be...
20 December 2021
From: Breaking News

Consultation begins today on a selective licensing scheme for privately rented housing in 25 wards of Birmingham. Under the suggested scheme, all...
25 October 2021
From: Breaking News

A bizarre fine imposed on a managing agent by a local authority appears to have been reversed because the council flouted...
18 August 2021
From: Breaking News

A proposal for one of the country’s largest ever private rental sector licensing schemes has gone out to consultation. Manchester’s Labour council...
22 June 2021
From: Breaking News

A London council has embarked on consultation over two new private rental licensing schemes - and says they are needed as...
23 March 2021
From: Breaking News

A London council describes two new licensing schemes as ‘making renting fairer’ - even though they are launched during the pandemic. Islington’s Labour...
17 February 2021
From: Breaking News

Earlier this week ARLA branded local councils pursuing private rental licensing during the pandemic as “socially irresponsible” - but one of...
22 January 2021
From: Breaking News

A lettings agent has spoken out at a local council landlord licensing scheme, suggesting it might just be nothing more than...
29 December 2020
From: Breaking News

Activists from the so-called renters’ union Acorn have held a protest outside the office of a lettings agency in Oxford. A photograph...
19 November 2020
From: Breaking News

A major north of England local authority wants to introduce landlord licensing for HMOs where three or four tenants live, following analysis...
19 October 2020
From: Breaking News

A private rental licensing consultancy has spotted that an additional licensing scheme run by a London borough council has now lapsed...
07 September 2020
From: Breaking News

A new private rental licensing regime in a London borough is being described as “a major step forward in improving living...
03 September 2020
From: Breaking News

Oxford council, which has 49 per cent of its housing stock in the private rental sector, is starting a formal consultation...
02 September 2020
From: Breaking News

Charnwood council in the East Midlands is proposing to introduce two different licensing schemes for private landlords, with agents and others...
12 August 2020
From: Breaking News

Greenwich council in London has resuscitated a proposal to extend its existing selective licensing regime, put on ice during the Coronavirus...
10 August 2020
From: Breaking News

A local authority has extended its consultation process for a selective licensing system which, if it goes ahead, would see some...
27 July 2020
From: Breaking News

Harrow council in north London has launched a formal consultation on its plan to renew its landlord licensing scheme in the...
11 June 2020
From: Breaking News

Residents at home during lockdown who may have seen families crammed into overcrowded HMOs are being asked to report the properties...
01 June 2020
From: Breaking News

A group of local landlords and others in the private rental sector are challenging a local authority’s licensing proposals with their...
07 May 2020
From: Breaking News

A local authority has postponed the extension of its private rental sector licensing regime - but it’s warning agents not to...
03 April 2020
From: Breaking News

Not-for-profit accreditation service safeagent says the government should ensure councils delay the introduction of all new private rental sector licensing schemes...
20 March 2020
From: Breaking News

Another council is consulting on introducing a selective licensing scheme - and again it claims it will “create better housing for...
28 February 2020
From: Breaking News

The government has given the green light to a council’s huge licensing scheme, set to cover 18 of its 20 wards...
17 February 2020
From: Breaking News

Enfield council in London has confirmed that it will introduce borough-wide additional licensing. It is also seeking consent from the government to...
07 February 2020
From: Breaking News

A council has prosecuted five private landlords who failed to get licences for the properties they let out. Oldham council says its...
05 February 2020
From: Breaking News

A landlord has ended up with fines totalling over £90,000 after repeatedly ignoring a council’s selective licensing regime. Stephen Ige pleaded guilty...
04 February 2020
From: Breaking News

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has backed a five year extension for a massive London council landlord licensing...
28 January 2020
From: Breaking News

Officers from a local council simultaneously staged 10 dawn raids on properties owned by unlicensed landlords. All the terraced homes, in Slough,...
24 January 2020
From: Breaking News

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has rejected a bid by Labour-controlled Liverpool council to extend its licensing scheme for five years. Government approval...
14 January 2020
From: Breaking News

Oldham council is the latest to seek an extension of a selective licensing scheme beyond its mandatory five year term -...
03 January 2020
From: Breaking News

A rogue landlord has been fined £1,384 for failing to get a council licence for two buy to let properties. The case...
27 December 2019
From: Breaking News

The owner of two properties has been fined £35,000 for breaches of the selective licensiing regime in his local area. At a...
02 December 2019
From: Breaking News

A landlord has been hit with court fines for a fourth time for failing to properly manage his rental properties. Landlord Jack...
27 November 2019
From: Breaking News

The government has given an extra £3.8m to councils to come up with ways of catching rogue landlords - and in...
05 November 2019
From: Breaking News

The government is being urged to speed up the release details of the future it sees for selective licensing following revelations...
25 October 2019
From: Breaking News

A long-term legal critic of selective licensing is warning that letting agents could be held jointly accountable with the landlords, -...
22 October 2019
From: Breaking News

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...
21 October 2019
From: Breaking News

Research by safeagent - the new name for the National Approved Letting Scheme - has found over 130,000 unlicensed properties in...
14 October 2019
From: Breaking News

An umbrella organisation representing councils is calling for greater freedom to introduce more and larger rental sector licensing schemes, without the...
01 October 2019
From: Breaking News

A senior Labour politician in Sheffield and the campaign group Acorn have both expressed support for a selective licensing scheme to...
25 September 2019
From: Breaking News

A Labour councillor on Islington council - which is controlled by the party and has Jeremy Corbyn as a local member...
17 September 2019
From: Breaking News

Enfield wants to be the latest London council to introduce large-scale additional and selective licensing schemes which would affect most private rented...
05 September 2019
From: Breaking News

The government has blocked a council rolling out selective licensing across no fewer than 3,000 homes in its patch. Under Stoke on...
13 August 2019
From: Breaking News

A local authority is being warned that its landlord licensing and accreditation scheme is potentially unlawful. The Residential Landlords Association, which represents...
05 August 2019
From: Breaking News

Another local authority has announced that it wants to introduce another selective licensing scheme and designate its entire patch for HMO...
02 August 2019
From: Breaking News

A London council wants to extend its private rental sector licensing scheme - and in doing so is boasting of the...
02 July 2019
From: Breaking News

An independent review into selective licensing in the private rental sector makes a series of recommendations to tighten processes, with the...
26 June 2019
From: Breaking News

A trade body has accused the government of going back on its promise not to introduce a national register of landlords. The...
26 June 2019
From: Breaking News

A buy to let investor who let out an unsafe and unlicensed property in London has now been hit with a...
21 June 2019
From: Breaking News

A lettings sector trade body has written to a council accusing it of initiating an “unlawful” fee structure for a licensing...
14 June 2019
From: Breaking News

Consultation is underway to extend a landlord licensing scheme in a London borough where a third of households rents privately. Three types...
12 June 2019
From: Breaking News

The National Landlords Association says it’s concerned the Fees Ban coming into effect in just two days’ time may limit access...
30 May 2019
From: Breaking News

Revenue raised by landlord licensing schemes should be used to enforce rental sector regulation, according to PayProp. It says that the money...
09 May 2019
From: Breaking News
30 April 2019
From: 60 Second Interview

A housing minister has pledged that more key reforms for the private rental sector will be revealed soon, despite Brexit political...
03 April 2019
From: Breaking News

Leicester is the latest council to begin consultations on selective licensing in six parts of the city - with the threat...
22 March 2019
From: Breaking News

A leading trade body says the argument that councils have insufficient powers to tackle rogue operators isn’t supported by the facts...
08 March 2019
From: Breaking News

Another controversial scheme licensing landlords who let their homes out may face legal challenge. Middlesbrough council’s formal consultation on the introduction of...
25 February 2019
From: Breaking News

A local authority in the Midlands has admitted what many people have believed for some time - despite a slew of...
22 February 2019
From: Breaking News

More local authorities have announced that they want to increase the size of the areas covered by their existing selective licensing...
19 February 2019
From: Breaking News

A legal firm has renewed its criticism of local authority licensing schemes, accusing them of “persecuting” landlords. David Kirwan, managing partner at...
15 February 2019
From: Breaking News

A landlord who failed to comply with orders to improve the standard of a property has had to pay over £7,500...
05 February 2019
From: Breaking News

Councils have been accused of routinely pursuing the most serious enforcement option open to them if they find a local licensing...
14 January 2019
From: Breaking News

One of London’s most enthusiastic councils for additional and selective licensing has pushed back the date for enforcement action against landlords...
04 December 2018
From: Breaking News

The head of a lettings agency has launched a petition in opposition to a bid by a local council to extend...
27 November 2018
From: Breaking News

Nottingham council - which recently introduced one of the largest and most controversial selective licensing schemes in the country - now...
23 November 2018
From: Breaking News

A buy to let investor has been forced to close down two rat infested homes he owns in Rotherham after they...
22 November 2018
From: Breaking News

Local press reports say that one of the country’s most controversial buy to let licensing schemes has seen thousands of applications...
16 November 2018
From: Breaking News

The Residential Landlords Association is threatening a council with a judicial review because of unresolved concerns over the authority’s selective licensing...
05 November 2018
From: Breaking News

A council says it has been preparing prosecution and penalty notices “for hundreds of private landlords that have failed to apply...
01 November 2018
From: Breaking News

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has made a clear pledge to tighten regulations surrounding the private rental sector. In an interview with The...
31 October 2018
From: Breaking News

The heavy-handed administration of selective licensing schemes is driving out buy to let investors. That’s the claim from David Kirwan of Kirwans...
30 October 2018
From: Breaking News

A landlord has been ordered to pay £452 after he breached the terms of his licence in an area of County...
23 October 2018
From: Breaking News

A post on a landlord website suggests that a new trade body is being set up to challenge the dominance of...
10 October 2018
From: Breaking News

The Labour-led local authority in Hackney has issued a statement pledging fines or even bans if landlords fail to get appropriate...
27 September 2018
From: Breaking News

The Association of Residential Letting Agents has issued a reminder to the industry of the need to understand and abide by...
19 September 2018
From: Breaking News

The council behind a controversial private rental sector licensing scheme is trying to justify its introduction on health and safety grounds. On...
17 August 2018
From: Breaking News

The Residential Landlords Association has told another council that its plans to introduce selective licensing in areas of its town are...
09 August 2018
From: Breaking News

A local authority has taken the unusual step of naming seven buy to let landlords prosecuted in the past month in...
09 August 2018
From: Breaking News

A leading PropTech entrepreneur says lettings agents should be more vocal in providing the government with feedback on council rental licensing...
03 August 2018
From: Breaking News

It appears that take-up of an apparently compulsory licensing scheme in one city has been shockingly low - and the scheme...
31 July 2018
From: Breaking News

The Residential Landlords’ Association says proposals from Great Yarmouth council to introduce selective licensing in one part of the town contains...
26 July 2018
From: Breaking News

From August 1 Nottingham council is introducing a new selective licensing regime covering an estimated 32,000 privately rented homes. This is an...
23 July 2018
From: Breaking News

Councillors in Stockton-on-Tees are under pressure to rethink plans to introduce Selective Licensing of private rented housing in two areas of...
20 July 2018
From: Breaking News

The Association of Residential Letting Agents has heaped praise on a local authority which has fined 27 lettings and managing agents...
11 July 2018
From: Breaking News

A petition has appeared on the government’s e-petition website calling for a review of a city council’s newly-introduced selective licensing system. Nottingham...
05 July 2018
From: Breaking News

Letting agents and others in the private rental sector have responded to the latest government intervention - a review into how...
21 June 2018
From: Breaking News

The government has announced a review to assess how selective licensing is used and find out how well it is working...
20 June 2018
From: Breaking News

A 10 week consultation period begins today on selective licensing in the central area of Blackpool - with the council threatening...
28 March 2018
From: Breaking News

A survey by consumer group Which?, working with landlords’ associations, reveals that 70 local authorities now have selective or additional licensing...
09 March 2018
From: Breaking News

The government has pledged to begin a review of the selective licensing across the private rental sector once MPs return from...
05 March 2018
From: Breaking News

The Court of Appeal has ruled that councils cannot use selective licensing conditions to impose new standards on private rented homes. In...
22 February 2018
From: Breaking News

A local authority has fined four landlords who failed to licence a total of seven properties under its selective licensing scheme. Hastings...
21 February 2018
From: Breaking News

Brent Council has confirmed that the government has approved its request to extend the local selective licensing scheme. The local authority, which...
20 February 2018
From: Breaking News

Two buy to let investors have been fined a total of more than £27,000 under enforcement powers introduced in Burnley to...
16 February 2018
From: Breaking News

The government has given the go ahead to what will be one of the UK’s largest selective licensing scheme outside of...
15 February 2018
From: Breaking News

This is a rare story: a council has dropped a plan for a lettings licensing scheme as a result of 900...
13 February 2018
From: Breaking News

Research by NALS has revealed extensive increases in the cost of licensing of lettings properties and landlords by local authorities in...
30 January 2018
From: Breaking News

The selective licensing scheme operated by Newham council in London is reported to have won government backing to be extended until...
05 December 2017
From: Breaking News

Four landlords have been fined and ordered to pay costs totalling £232,155.68 in the first prosecutions of its kind brought by...
19 October 2017
From: Breaking News

Letting Agent Today understands that senior industry figures are working on the framework of a new attempt at regulation, including measures...
27 September 2017
From: Breaking News

A Scarborough buy to let investor has been found guilty of two offences under the Housing Act 2004 for non-compliance with...
21 September 2017
From: Breaking News

A new licensing scheme in Nottingham has moved a step closer with the proposal being sent to the government for approval. The council’s...
25 July 2017
From: Breaking News

Yet another local authority is considering introducing selective licensing of private rental property. Luton council has issued a statement saying that within...
13 July 2017
From: Breaking News

Agents and landlords are unwittingly issuing incorrect Section 21 notices, resulting in thousands of pounds being wasted on aborted possession claims...
28 June 2017
From: Breaking News

A letting agency is urging landlords to respond to the consultations for three selective licensing schemes in its local area. homes4u, which...
12 May 2017
From: Breaking News

A local authority consultation exercise on a licensing system for local landlords has been postponed until June 12, four days after...
02 May 2017
From: Breaking News

Another London borough is consulting on a further extension of its existing selective licensing - this time it’s Harrow council. It wants...
20 April 2017
From: Breaking News

Angry landlords in Shropshire have set up an online petition against local council proposals to introduce selective licensing. The Wrekin Landlords Association...
24 March 2017
From: Breaking News

An advice website claims that more than half of the privately rented properties in the selective licensing area imposed by a...
03 March 2017
From: Breaking News

A series of prosecutions of rogue landlords by a London council has also seen a so-called ‘property manager’ fined a four-figure...
17 February 2017
From: Breaking News

Manchester, which already has a major private rental sector licensing scheme, is now consulting on extending it with a third phase...
16 February 2017
From: Breaking News

A new task group is being set up to explore how a council can tackle what it calls “problems with private...
26 January 2017
From: Breaking News

Consultation has begun on a new licensing scheme for landlords being proposed by Nottingham council. It runs until March 31 and gives...
18 January 2017
From: Breaking News

Manchester council - which previously described selective licensing schemes in the private rental sector as ineffective - has done a U-turn...
30 December 2016
From: Breaking News

The National Landlords Association has rejected a central plank of London mayor Sadiq Khan’s plan for housing - the introduction of yet more...
23 December 2016
From: Breaking News

Yet another London borough is introducing a selective licensing scheme, under which parts of a local authority patch are subject to...
21 December 2016
From: Breaking News

A London council has agreed to implement a new ‘standards charter’ for the private rental sector from next month - in...
15 December 2016
From: Breaking News

One the leading letting agencies in Brighton has sharply criticised a proposal by the local council to introduce a selective licensing...
18 November 2016
From: Breaking News

Brent council in London is seeking the views of agents- as well as landlords, tenants and others - on the extension...
24 October 2016
From: Breaking News

A council has taken a landlord to court for failing to licence his two buy to let properties under its selective...
13 October 2016
From: Breaking News

It appears that Wandsworth Council has backed away from a decision to implement a new landlord licensing scheme. Research by London Property...
08 September 2016
From: Breaking News

A company operating a number of buy to let properties has been ordered to pay more than £15,000 by magistrates for...
07 September 2016
From: Breaking News

A landlord that continually refused to sign up to a council’s selective licensing regime has been found guilty by the courts...
05 September 2016
From: Breaking News

The local authority in Manchester is proposing to introduce a landlord licensing scheme in the north of the city and has...
22 August 2016
From: Breaking News

An organisation called Somerset Property Network has organised over 50 landlords in the course of little over one month and it...
09 August 2016
From: Breaking News

A London council will introduce two new licensing schemes in the New Year. These make it a legal requirement for landlords to obtain...
05 August 2016
From: Breaking News

Another local authority is aiming to set up its own ‘social’ lettings agency. The proposal is one of five put forward by...
21 July 2016
From: Breaking News

Controversial licensing conditions for a city’s landlords have been changed following complaints from an industry group. Liverpool council has modified the conditions...
15 July 2016
From: Breaking News

Burnley Council has brought a series of prosecutions against people responsible for unlicensed rented houses in the borough. The council has introduced...
04 July 2016
From: Breaking News

Yet another local authority looks likely to adopt a licensing scheme for private rental sector properties, described as a bid “to...
23 June 2016
From: Breaking News

Burnley Council has named and shamed eleven landlords that have been prosecuted for ignoring its selective licensing scheme. One landlord, Pierce Mullally,...
27 May 2016
From: Breaking News

A private landlord has been ordered to pay more than £1,000 after admitting operating in Burnley without a proper licence. Matthew Hartley...
12 April 2016
From: Breaking News

A campaign group which last year held protests outside letting agents’ offices in Bristol is claiming victory in persuading the city’s...
17 February 2016
From: Breaking News

A leading property solicitor says there are “secret dangers” to landlords and their letting agents when it comes to selective licensing...
28 October 2015
From: Breaking News

Three landlords have become the first to be prosecuted by a council - almost three years after the authority introduced a...
08 October 2015
From: Breaking News

A group of landlords in Oldham have said they are going to present the council with a petition against the town's...
20 August 2015
From: Breaking News

The growth of the PRS has provided a long list of benefits for the lettings industry. However, it is not without...
17 August 2015
From: Sponsored Content

A lettings organisation claims that a council licensing scheme in London will mean compulsory monthly visits to properties being let out. Harrow...
04 August 2015
From: Breaking News

Yet another council is proposing a licence on properties let out in the private rental sector - this time suggesting one...
16 July 2015
From: Breaking News

A landlord who failed to properly manage a home he rented out has become the first landlord prosecuted under a council’s...
14 July 2015
From: Breaking News

The council which became a standard bearer for so-called ‘landlord licensing’ - Enfield in north London - appears to have abandoned...
10 July 2015
From: Breaking News

A bid to take Rotherham council to a judicial review over a selective licensing scheme for private sector landlords has failed. All...