Victory for landlords as council withdraws raft of additional licensing conditions
4 weeks ago | 2 comments
Call to scrap landlord licensing after database rollout
12:01 AM, 7th October 2026, 3 weeks ago
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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.
Tags:
additional licensing, Landlord Licensing, Landlord Registration, propertymark, PRS database, Selective Licensing
7 comments on this article
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Member Since October 2026 - Comments: 6
11:25 AM, 7th October 2026, About 3 weeks ago
I feel that these multiple tracking / licensing schemes are all part of the strategy to drive small landlords out of the rental market.
Member Since May 2025 - Comments: 92
11:33 AM, 7th October 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Lots of double charging, duplication. I can’t see the government will stop this – they make money out of it.
The real rogue landlords are councils. It looks like the 300k complaints number raised mentioned above was to councils not private landlords.
In 24/25 there were 290,000 complaints raised about social or council housing. There were 73,000 enquiries raised in that year to The Property Ombudsman for private rented accommodation and the vast majority or these enquiries related to agents rather than landlords.
The Renters Right Act will not apply to social housing until October 2027. Maybe then things might change….
Member Since October 2022 - Comments: 278
12:18 PM, 7th October 2026, About 3 weeks ago
They should contract out to the peope who run Rent Smart Wales, which is £60 online registration (£102 paper) flat fee for ALL of your properties for FIVE years, plus a single landlord licence for £254 again for 5 years, and onine training for £35.
So if you have 10 self-managed properties, it works out at about £6 a year per property, or £60 for a single property, and that includes training. And there’s virtually no authority that bothers with additional licensing.
In Scotland it’s £85 plus £20 per property over 3 years and no selective licensing, which is approximately the same level. Only in the UK do we pay 10 x as much and then have to pay massive selective licensing fees!
Member Since October 2025 - Comments: 29
5:32 PM, 7th October 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Couldn’t agree more. Well said a propertyMark.
Ban the selective licensing schemes outright and reduce the annual database fee to match Scotland and Wales.
Member Since January 2026 - Comments: 16
9:17 AM, 8th October 2026, About 3 weeks ago
Reply to the comment left by Will H at 07/10/2026 – 11:25
Renters Right Act plan is to drive out small landlords, that’s happening now. Pool getting smaller. Act does nothing about rogue letting agents & tenants-Courts & legal system reaping the financial rewards. Leave it all to large landlords to deal with it all.
Member Since October 2024 - Comments: 240
6:28 PM, 17th October 2026, About 1 week ago
For landlords to sell their properties currently is not easy.
There are not many owner occupiers who can afford to buy the properties for themselves.
The landlords who wish to remain are all looking for bargains and there are a lot of agents sprouting up to help these bargain hunter landlords. Agents looking for properties for their clients, so they say but then they wish to market it and offer to sell for 15 to 20% lower.
This can be done by your selected local agents as well. But somehow these agents who say they deal with properties all over UK will find a buyer. So ridiculous as they will talk to the local agents, you know all this.
Member Since September 2026 - Comments: 17
7:57 PM, 17th October 2026, About 1 week ago
Reply to the comment left by Will H at 07/10/2026 – 11:25
Hi Will,
The duplication’s real, and it isn’t going anywhere. Nothing in the Act scraps selective or additional licensing, and Propertymark’s paper is a request rather than a change, so from December you’ve got both.
What’s worth diarising is your own region’s date, because 15 December is only the West Midlands. Everyone else gets a three month window of their own: East of England 14 April, East Midlands 14 May, South East 14 June, Yorkshire and Humber 14 July, North West 14 August, North East 14 September, London 14 October, South West 14 November, all 2027. Councils can’t enforce before your own region’s deadline.
The part nobody’s mentioned is what that registration is actually tied to. Section 90 inserts a new subsection 5ZC into section 7 of the Housing Act 1988, and it says the court can’t make a possession order while you’re in breach of the duty to keep an active entry. There’s no discretion in it. The only exceptions are Ground 7A and Ground 14.
So if you’re not registered, you don’t get possession for arrears, for selling, or for moving back in. Serious antisocial behaviour is the only door left. That’s the bit worth getting right, whatever happens to licensing.
OJ