Council underestimates the scale of selective licensing and hires extra staff

A council has admitted it underestimated how many privately rented homes would need a licence under its new selective licensing scheme, forcing it to recruit two more staff members.

The authority introduced selective licensing across five areas of its district last September, originally estimating that 1,221 homes would fall within the scheme.

That figure was drawn from the most recent English House Survey but just two weeks after applications opened, 1,100 licence submissions were received.

Now Mansfield District Council says that a further 600 rented homes were not included in the original estimate, which significantly expands the amount of enforcement work required.

Larger team needed

This week, a report from the council’s private sector housing manager reveals that the license demand means that more staff are needed need ‘to adequately enforce the selective licensing requirements and conditions’.

Once approval is given, another selective licensing compliance officer starting on £43,467 and rising to £50,127 in the fifth year of the scheme.

An extra selective licensing administration support officer to help support delivery across affected wards will earn £33,356, rising to £38,660.

Selective licence cost

With Mansfield’s licence fee costing £800, the extra 600 properties are expected to generate £480,000 over the five-year life of the scheme.

The council says this income will be sufficient to cover the cost of the two new posts, although it stressed that the figures are estimates and ‘not guaranteed’.

Council officers have begun cross-referencing council tax and Land Registry records to identify unlicensed properties and take enforcement action where necessary.

Landlords who fail to licence a property can face civil penalties of up to £30,000 issued by the council or prosecution in the courts, where fines are unlimited.