Landlords slam ‘unfair’ selective licensing fee as council reviews policy

Landlords slam ‘unfair’ selective licensing fee as council reviews policy

0:02 AM, 31st October 2023, About 6 months ago 5

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Landlords in Middlesbrough have criticised a selective licensing scheme that charges them £800 for a five-year licence – but it only has months to run.

Teesside Live reports that the scheme, which covers part of the Newport ward, has been criticised by landlords who say it is a ‘private tax’ that is forcing them to keep rented homes empty.

They say the council should offer a scaled fee that reflects the remaining duration of the scheme, which ends in June 2024.

Otherwise, they face paying the full £800 amount again if the scheme is renewed.

‘A lot of anger in the town’

One landlord, who owns more than 10 properties in the area, told the site: “There’s a lot of anger in the town. People are so fed up. Everyone’s going mad about it.

“Houses will sit empty until June because landlords won’t pay £800 for a six-month licence. The market’s stagnating because of it. Everything’s just stuck now.

“It’s so unfair but it’s detrimentally affecting housing in Middlesbrough. People will not buy houses in this part of Newport at the moment because there’s no point. People aren’t renting them out.”

Another landlord, who has 11 properties in Middlesbrough and Stockton, said: “I sold a property this summer to avoid having to pay the council over £800 for a one-year licence. Surely, they would have the sense to set a scaled fee over the five-year period, which they have the power to do under the 2004 legislation.

“It’s just disgusting. The cost would have got passed on to the tenants and I just don’t think it’s fair.”

‘Housing standards in the private rented sector’

A Middlesbrough Council spokesperson told Teesside Live: “The selective landlord licensing schemes aim to tackle anti-social behaviour and improve housing standards in the private rented sector.

“Each scheme runs for five years, and they have been shown to have a positive impact.

“The licence fees are calculated on the staffing resource required to deliver the scheme – the council does not make a profit and there is no cost to the council taxpayers.”

They added: “We currently offer a 50% discount for the second payment in the last six months on the scheme and as part of our evaluation of the Newport scheme, we are reviewing this policy in terms of potential impact on income, administration costs and discouraging landlords from applying on time.”

One of the landlords quoted by the site welcomed the review but said it was ‘too little too late’ because a 50% discount of a £400 second payment, making up half the fee, would still mean having to pay more than £600 for a licence lasting up to six months.


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Comments

Gunga Din

9:46 AM, 31st October 2023, About 6 months ago

Is it possible to "disable" a property, making it unfit for habitation, so as to avoid the Licence and C Tax? I am intrigued by the decision to keep a property empty until June. Fortunately my area is not affected yet.

john isaacs

9:50 AM, 31st October 2023, About 6 months ago

quote - 'The selective landlord licensing schemes aim to tackle anti-social behaviour'

I asked my council (bournemouth) at a selective licencing meeting how they would tackle anti-social behaviour as I recently had a tenant like this which I had to evict and how would the council help if I had that situation again and their answer was -'you will have to get a section 21' and I said 'in other words , you would not do anything so that's a false statement to say you will tackle anti social behaviour!' the lady from the council got very uncomfortable .

Rachel

10:23 AM, 31st October 2023, About 6 months ago

I have several properties in Middlesbrough in the selective licensing areas. One of them was burgled and flooded where the burglars ripped out the washing machine, leaving the water pouring out of the supply pipe for hours until it was discovered. The police weren’t able to do anything because it turned out that none of the CCTVs work in the street and haven’t done for months. As far as I’m aware, they still don’t and it’s been almost 5 months. I can’t see any visible improvements to the area. What on earth are we paying all these fees for? The scheme has just been expanded and I’ve had to pay a further £3200 in fees for properties that are now in the new selective licensing zone. It’s ridiculous!

Markella Mikkelsen

10:35 AM, 31st October 2023, About 6 months ago

We had a "consultation" meeting with both Manchester as well as Oldham Councils regarding their Selective LIcensing schemes a couple of years ago. Landlords requested to see the data that allegedly supported the expansion of the SL schemes and the supposed "positive impact" the previous SL schemes had had on the areas.
Neither council was able to provide any data (?could that be because there isn't any, by any chance?). And yet the current legislation clearly states that SL is the LAST RESORT after everything else that the council has done has failed to tackle ASB. The councils were unable to produce any evidence as to what else they had done to tackle ASB.
The final straw of this farcical meeting, was the Manchester counsellor turning up 1.5 hours late (with freshly polished nails I might add). She had listened to none of the arguments, her only contribution was that she thought that SL "was such a wonderful idea, it will happen for sure". This is how these clowns make decisions. On a whim. Without any data.
The whole SL scheme is anti-constitutional and criminal and yet no-one has been able to stand up to these clowns and stop it.

Mick Roberts

12:35 PM, 31st October 2023, About 6 months ago

I told Nottingham Council this would happen.
It's ridiculous. No pro rota charging. How thick are these Council's?

Selective Licensing is supposed to make houses better for tenants. It does. 1%. Meanwhile 99% get worse, have more costs, higher rents, less supply, & next time you don't take anyone less than perfect cause of this:

Most of u r very good. But are u perfect? Read Licensing conditions and tell yourself:
1. Could u comply with all them.
2. Would u take any tenant on that wasn't the most prim proper person ever?
3. If u was a landlord getting older, would u want to be dealing with that for EVERY house EVERY tenant?
4. Could u be doing with giving out 200 pages to each tenant each house.
5. Would u take a Benefit tenant on after being told u had to comply with them conditions?
Selective Licensing conditions Feb 2022
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sD_HRl57ANNw4PBAb-FGRU7h-0Qby9Vm5xLioH_nA7c/edit?usp=sharing

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