Manchester Council could reintroduce licensing after a previous scheme was allowed to lapse without being renewed after its five-year life.

The council said this was because it “focused on the licence process rather than improving conditions”.

It has since tried other methods to ensure high standards in the private rented sector, including a rental pledge adopted in March last year.

That voluntary scheme now covers 25,000 properties.

However, the city council has decided to consult on mandatory schemes which could cost landlords between £500 and £750 a licence (the cost is part of the consultation) per property.

Because the proposed licensing areas are small, the local authority says it will be able to identify, with a 95% certainty, who the landlords are to approach them before licensing to advise them of their need for a licence.

Manchester’s selective licensing will initially concentrate on three specific areas picked out as pilots, starting with an area called Crumpsall, covering 400 properties.

The council believes the latest selective schemes will work better than the previous attempt because it has better access to information and will not rely on landlords approaching it.

“We did not have the data sophistication that we now have [with the last licensing scheme] and so it was almost impossible to measure objectively what impact licensing was having on an area,” a council spokesperson said.

Officers will choose licensing areas through data analysis on a range of issues, where they believe a scheme is justified and can be objectively measured.

John Stewart, Residential Landlords Association policy manager, said although his organisation did not believe in licensing schemes, this one was “not too bad” because it covered small areas.

The RLA thinks local authorities have enough existing powers which, if used effectively, could deal with any private sector landlord issues.

The body is to meet with the council to discuss the details of the scheme and help assess the justifications for its use and ensure it is resourced properly.

The 10-week consultation closes on 31 October.

Labour’s mayoral candidate for Manchester Andy Burnham last month pledged to introduce a licensing scheme for landlords across Greater Manchester if he is successful next May.

* North Somerset Council dropped plans for a licensing scheme last month after local landlords came up with “a number of other alternatives”.