Landlord claims selective licensing will force evictions of long-term tenants

A Nottingham landlord says “the council’s hands are tied by homeless-inducing rules” because selective licensing fails to protect tenants.

Mick Roberts, one of Nottingham’s largest landlords for housing benefit tenants over the past 28 years, is trying to sell 11 of his properties.

However, Nottingham City Council is now demanding full selective licensing fees, despite the fact he’s trying to sell, and the licences cannot be transferred to new landlords.

Licensing does nothing to protect tenants

Mr Roberts claims the licensing rules will force him to evict tenants just to sell, with many of those tenants having lived in their homes for more than 20 years.

He told Property118 that Nottingham City Council has emailed him asking when he expects to sell certain properties over the next seven to eight months, but he says the council is missing the point.

Mr Roberts said: “The council is asking when I expect to sell, which is a tricky word, because I hope to sell all of them, and I could if I evict my tenants, which is exactly what the rules are pushing us to do.

“I don’t understand how I’m meant to do my best to prevent homelessness for a 68-year-old tenant who’s been there 22 years, when licensing is doing nothing to protect that tenant.”

He added: “If I evict, that’s going to cost Nottingham Council far more than a licensing fee, are the people running licensing even aware of this? The council’s hands are tied by homeless-inducing rules.”

Waste of money

Despite this, Nottingham City council continue to push Mr Roberts to pay hundreds of pounds to licence his properties.

The selective licence fee is split into two parts. When Nottingham’s current scheme was introduced, the first instalment was £219 for accredited landlords. The second instalment was £446 for each individual property licence.

Mr Roberts has 11 properties in the area, which means he could face a bill of nearly £5,000.

According to Nottinghamshire Live, the council has agreed to introduce a three-month exemption from the fees, which can be extended for another three months, on six of the properties where progress is being made on the sales.

However, Mr Roberts tells Property118 the licensing fees are nothing more than a waste of money.

He explains, “The council told me the Part A fee I paid in December 2023 covers the cost of processing the licence, for which they had already issued drafts.

“Seriously? I paid £219? We can MOT a dangerous car for £40.

“And it takes licensing £400 and 40 hours to process a house we’ve already submitted forms for? Seriously? Are they related to tortoises?”

A recent Facebook post by Nottinghamshire Live covering selective licensing has attracted numerous comments, with many members of the public voicing strong opposition to the licensing scheme.

Ongoing communication

Nottingham City Council told Nottinghamshire Live they have been in contact with Mr Roberts.

A council spokesperson told the newspaper: “We have been in ongoing communication with Mr Roberts for several months regarding the selective licensing of his properties.

“He has been given ample time to progress his applications and make representations, and our teams have provided detailed advice about his options.”

However, Nottinghamshire Live reports that the council is once again experiencing problems with its website, which displays an error message, leaving Mr Roberts unable to pay his licence fees.

Mr Roberts previously told Property118 he feared he could face a prison sentence under the council’s selective licensing scheme, after being unable to complete the application due to the website being down.