Call to scrap landlord licensing after database rollout

Discretionary landlord licensing schemes should be scrapped once England’s national landlord database is fully operational, ministers have been urged.

In some areas, selective licensing alone costs more than £1,000 per property, with additional licensing fees higher still.

Now Propertymark has published a position paper on schemes across England and Wales examines their cost, effectiveness and enforcement.

The organisation argues that landlords and letting agents face substantial bills and paperwork without necessarily seeing better enforcement against those responsible for poor housing.

Landlord fees face scrutiny

The organisation’s senior policy and campaigns officer, Tim Thomas, said: “Landlords should be able to see a clear connection between the fees they pay and the improvements being delivered in their local housing market.

“The priority must be enforcement.”

He added: “A licensing system should not become an end in itself, particularly where councils already have extensive powers to identify and act against unsafe or poorly managed housing.

“We support strong regulation and high standards, but regulation must be proportionate, effective and deliver value for money for renters, landlords and taxpayers.”

National landlord database rollout

The government has confirmed that the landlord registration service, the first stage of the Private Rented Sector Database, will launch in the West Midlands on 15 December.

It will then roll out across England over the following 12 months, with all landlords actively letting property ultimately required to register.

Propertymark wants councils to use the database as their primary source of landlord and property information, without charging again for data entry and document storage where those records are already held nationally.

It also proposes a single national standard for a complete application and a Lead Authority model to reduce repeated checks on agents working across several council areas.

Council enforcement and funding

The paper points to evidence that around two-thirds of English councils had not prosecuted a landlord in the previous three years, despite authorities receiving an estimated 300,000 complaints about property conditions annually.

Meanwhile, more than 84% of councils have reported difficulty recruiting environmental health professionals.

Propertymark wants councils to show how licensing income funds inspections and enforcement, alongside a national cap restricting spending on initial administration to 20% of fees.

Its proposals also include independent assessments and sunset provisions for licensing schemes, greater investment in Environmental Health Officers and targeted enforcement against higher-risk landlords.