Is HMO licensing causing challenges for student landlords?

Hi, it would appear that gaining an HMO licence is bringing a number of unintended consequences, making being a landlord more difficult than usual.

In Sheffield, the waiting time to renew is meant to be 13 weeks. I am now in my fourth month and have not received any replies to my emails asking where we are in the process, even though I had to pay half of the £1200 fee in advance to start the renewal process.

My HMOs are student lets, so now the local university has turned around and stated that no landlord will be allowed to advertise in their accommodation sector unless landlords have both an HMO licence and Snug licence (a property inspection standard that shows the property meets required standards and the landlord is accredited by Sheffield council and the university). This deprives landlords of a source of tenants and income.

It does not put me off being a landlord, but all the talk about communication and working together seems a long way off!

Have any other student landlords experienced the same?

Thanks,

Lawrie