Thursday, February 13, 2025
HomeMortgageGovt issues guidance on selective licensing for privately rented homes

Govt issues guidance on selective licensing for privately rented homes



The government has published guidance for local authorities on selective licensing in the private rental sector (PRS), taking effect from 23 December.

The guidance is non-statutory and means local authorities will no longer need confirmation from the Secretary of State to introduce a selective licensing scheme of any size. 

A selective licensing scheme requires privately rented properties in a borough to be licensed, and this can be applied to a whole area or select parts. 

This means landlords will need to have a licence to let properties in this area. 

Local authorities currently have the power to introduce the selective licensing of privately rented homes to address instances such as low housing supply, poor housing conditions, high levels of migration, anti-social behaviour and high levels of crime. 

The intention is to improve the quality of life in a local authority. A scheme can be introduced when a local authority considers an area to have a high proportion of privately rented homes. 


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‘The private rented sector needs less selective licensing’ 

Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, suggested that local authorities needed to be more proactive with improving the quality of homes without the need for licensing. 

He said: “The private rented sector needs less selective licensing, not more, with the additional costs and duplication of rules that it brings. To this end, there are enough laws covering high standards for rented property, but it’s the lack of capacity of local authorities to actively inspect property and enforce these rules that is the main issue.

“Licensing means councils spend all their time administering schemes, rather than enforcing against rogue, criminal landlords.” 

Douglas added: “The Renters’ Rights Bill offers an opportunity to phase out licensing schemes, provide councils with the resources they need and endorse professional letting agents and landlords alongside the introduction of the Decent Homes Standard and Private Rented Sector Database.

“However, it would seem that the UK government is failing to recognise the benefits of doing this and not providing local authorities with the much-needed investment they need to enforce the wide range of legislation that already exists.” 





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