New landlord rental licensing scheme launches next week

New borough-wide licensing for all landlords renting out properties in Brent, northwest London, will be come into force next week.

Every privately rented property in Brent, except for Wembley Park, will be legally required to apply for a licence on 1 April.

Cllr Promise Knight, cabinet member for Housing, Homelessness and Renters’ Security, said: “This is a scheme that will bring about positive living standard improvements for private renters who make up half of all Brent residents. It will also give landlords and agents complete clarity on their responsibilities regarding property management and safety.

“The introduction of selective licensing across Brent will offer renters the assurance of security and safety when it comes to their homes. We will continue to work in partnership with good professional landlords to help them comply with regulations. But any landlord who ignores the law should be aware that that there will be nowhere in Brent for them to hide.”

In 2023, the council issued its first banning order against a landlord, preventing him from letting houses in England for five years. Brent has also licenced more homes of multiple occupation than any other London borough and has one of the most proactive enforcement teams in the capital.

 

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4 Comments

  1. MrManyUnits

    April the 1st sums it up really, Landlord selling up and give them more regulations and don’t forget MTD quarterly reporting starts in 2 years.

    Meanwhile in Scotland New builds are down a quarter in 2023 despite ‘homes crisis’
    Scottish government data shows there were 20,992 newbuild home completions and 16,017 starts in Scotland last year. Compared with 2022, completions dropped by 11 per cent and new starts were down 24 per cent — 5,009 fewer.

    Whilst Scotland and Wales maybe irrelevant to England (and me) they normally set the scene for any Labour led future housing directions.

    Happy Easter!

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  2. LVW4

    The same old justification… ‘will bring about positive living standard improvements for private renters’.

    She says its borough-wide, so why not Wembley Park?

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  3. drasperger

    Ahh………. That is to do with the process of “consultation and research” before a scheme proposal for additional licensing can be submitted to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities. Department of levelling down can reasonably deny permission for the scheme if the LA has not demonstrated that there are no areas that would not benefit…. the cunning advisors (who are paid a fortune to do the research) have come up with this ruse…… just leave one or two wards out of the scheme and it makes it virtually impossible for the application to be rejected.

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  4. AcornsRNuts

    I thought April Fools jokes were supposed to be funny?

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