Don’t make landlord licensing easier, government urged

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has urged the government not to make it easier for local authorities to introduce landlord licensing schemes, warning that a blanket approach would create unnecessary bureaucracy without improving standards.

Responding to government proposals, the NRLA said selective licensing can be effective when used in a targeted way to tackle specific problems, but argued that giving local authorities wider powers to introduce schemes would duplicate information already expected to be available through a comprehensive Private Rented Sector database.

“We fundamentally reject the idea that it should be easier for councils to introduce landlord licensing schemes,” said Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA. “Licensing can be an effective tool when used sparingly and in a focused manner.”

“Allowing local authorities carte blanche to apply it will serve only to duplicate the information councils will be able to obtain from a well-designed PRS Database,” he explained.

Responding to a report by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee on housing conditions in the private rented sector, the NRLA has welcomed the committees’ recognition that most renters are satisfied with their homes, and the majority of landlords provide safe, decent and comfortable homes.

Beadle continued: “The Committee is right to argue that improving standards requires a mix of incentives to support landlords to meet the planned Decent Homes Standard sooner than 2035, whilst improving enforcement to root out rogue and criminal landlords that have no business operating within the sector.

“We are pleased that the Committee has taken heed of several of the NRLA’s recommendations on enforcement, including the need to better understand council capacity, improve transparency around local enforcement activity, and ensure the Private Rented Sector (PRS) Database helps responsible landlords to demonstrate compliance.”

More broadly, the NRLA says it  welcomed the Committee’s calls for the courts to be properly resourced to cope with the impact of the Act, and its rejection of calls for rent controls.

“As it rightly concludes, they [rent controls] would undermine the supply of affordable properties,” Beadle added. “We agree with the Committee that the focus must instead be on ensuring the rental appeals tribunal processes cases far quicker than they do at present.”