Council threatens hefty fines as landlords struggle with faulty licensing system

Council threatens hefty fines as landlords struggle with faulty licensing system

9:57 AM, 28th February 2024, About 2 months ago 14

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Nottingham City Council has produced a video to help landlords learn how to complete its selective licensing application process – despite the website being faulty.

The council is now threatening landlords who fail to complete their licence application on time with a whopping £1,233 fine.

One landlord previously told Property118 that applying for a selective licence with the council’s online system is a ‘complete waste of money’.

Why not make the website user-friendly in the first place?

Mick Roberts, one of Nottingham’s largest landlord’s housing benefit tenants, told Property118 that the council are charging £340 more for not completing the licence on time.

He said: “The licensing website is so hard to complete that approximately 13,000 landlords have not completed the online form potentially at risk of a huge fine.

“It’s that bad that the licensing department has now had to bring a video instructing landlords how to complete the form.”

Mr Roberts added: “Think about how much it costs to make the video and why not make the website user-friendly in the first place?”

Mr Roberts says the more the council attacks landlords many will simply decide to sell up.

He said: “Licensing was bought in to make life better for tenants instead, it’s constantly restricting their supply.

“You got one side of the council begging us for houses and then the attack side. They need to get together & sort this out! Landlords have had enough and many will simply decide to walk away and sell up.”

Avoid substantial fee increase

The council in a statement said: “Act promptly to avoid substantial fee increases.

“If the council needs to chase you for your application, you may incur the ‘Less Compliant’ fee of £1,233. We want to help you sidestep unnecessary costs and ensure a seamless licensing process.”

You can watch the video on how to complete the selective licensing form below.


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Comments

GlanACC

10:05 AM, 4th March 2024, About 2 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Mick Roberts at 28/02/2024 - 18:55Mick, whenever I raised a S21 I always sent a copy to my local council (Derby) just to give them a heads up. I only ever once got a reply, addresses to my LTD company (and not the tenant) stating that they were sorry to hear I was being made homeless (presumably my LTD company was being made homeless) and would do what they could to help me. I also sent a copy of the S21 after the tenant had left and gave the reason that I was 'evicting' them so that they could maybe add it to a spreadsheet of excuses.

Heather G.

15:19 PM, 4th March 2024, About 2 months ago

I just discovered that one of the companies involved in the SL scheme proposal for Lambeth, who are credited with supplying the stats that "justify" the need for SL, is Metastreet. Metastreet is the private company who supply councils with licensing software systems and have been awarded the contract for the SL scheme if it comes into force.
One example of the dubious quality of their statistics is that according to Metastreet, there were 1800 complaints from PRS tenants over 3 years. This meant an average of 600 per annum out of over 48,000 properties. This equates to 1.25% complaints a year and from that Metastreet extrapolated that 19% of PRS have category 1 hazards across the ward. Looking at their fee structure, Metastreet could earn over £200K in the 5 year term from Lambeth.

Mick Roberts

17:13 PM, 4th March 2024, About 2 months ago

Reply to the comment left by GlanACC at 04/03/2024 - 10:05
Proper thick aren't they

Mick Roberts

17:14 PM, 4th March 2024, About 2 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Heather G. at 04/03/2024 - 15:19
Good digging

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