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Anger over plans to limit PRS licensing
Campaigning groups have slammed government plans to stop city or borough-wide private rented sector (PRS) licensing schemes.
Housing minister Brandon Lewis will soon announce that local authorities will not be able to license more than 20% of local PRS or 20% of its geographical area from 1 April this year.
Alex Hilton, director of campaigning group Generation Rent, said it was ‘deeply disappointing’ this had been ‘rushed through without consultation with tenants’ groups and local authorities’.
‘Area-wide licensing has been shown to be working to improve private renting and drive up standards in the sector,’ Mr Hilton said.
Martha Mackenzie, from homelessness charity Shelter’s public affairs team, said: ‘This new measure interferes with councils’ autonomy: local authorities are well-placed to decide whether borough-wide licensing is appropriate for them.’
Croydon Council, which will decide on a borough-wide scheme on Monday, said it planned to push on with its scheme regardless. ‘We have been working and consulting on our proposals for a borough-wide selective landlord licensing scheme for a long time, and if our cabinet approves the recommendation, we will take these plans forward,’ a spokesperson said.
But Richard Lambert, chief executive at the umbrella group the National Landlords Association (NLA), said: ‘Many local councils won’t like this decision one bit because until now, they’ve been their own judges, and the only way for landlords to challenge them has been through the difficult and complex route of judicial review.’ The NLA said the number of schemes jumped after powers had been given in 2010 for area-wide schemes, from 15 discretionary licensing schemes between 2006 and 2010 to 34 since 2010.
Mr Lewis said: ‘The vast majority of private landlords offer a decent service – so I’m determined we end the ‘tenants’ tax’ caused by draconian measures that do nothing to tackle rogue operators and only serve to push up rents.
‘I want councils to take targeted action and focus their efforts on tackling that small number of landlords who make their tenants’ lives a misery – and help create a bigger, better private rented sector as a result.’
The law is due to be debated in the House of Lords on 23 March. In theory, it could be voted against, although the House of Lords does not usually do so against delegated legislation.
