Liverpool Landlord Licensing Falls Foul Of Deregulation Act
Not only does the application form for Liverpool Landlord Licensing fall foul of the Data Protection Act, the scheme rules also fall foul of the De-Regulation Act.
I refer to condition 4 of their Landlord License . The Council insist that Landlords issue a section 21 where anti-social behaviour is taking place.
Their specified timeline would mean a landlord issuing a section 21 after a maximum of 45 days, YET the De-Regulation Act clearly states that in the case of new tenancies, a section 21 notice cannot be issued in the first 4 months of a tenancy.
If a landlord fails to comply with the conditions imposed by this council, (s)he could be fined, get a criminal record and have the management of his property taken away from him/her.
On the other hand, if (s)he issues the Section 21 as per the Licensing Condition then that would not be valid based on the De-Regulation Act.
That is the nonsense Liverpool are forcing landlords to sign up to, and their co -regulation bodies, with their legal teams, seem to have overlooked this detail.
In my opinion Liverpool City Council are not a fit body to regulate landlords judging from the paucity of their Landlord application forms and the actual licenses themselves.
I call upon the Housing Minister to intervene.
On the 10th May , The ICO stated that in their view Liverpool City Council’s Landlord Licening Application Form falls foul of the Data Protection Act. Despite this damning verdict Liverpool are writing to Landlords waffling about having received advice from the DPA but failing to admit to the breach. This issue will not recede as the forms are not compliant and Liverpool do not have Landlords signatures agreeing to their draconian conditions.
The license and its conditions could quite easily result in a criminal prosecution for any landlord operating in Liverpool. With the help of Property118 and its members I now want to take the fight to Liverpool Council, which itself has has been prosecuted in the magistrates court for a criminal offence in 2006/2007.
I am holding a meeting for all Landlords who feel strongly about this and want to take further action. The Council and their co-regulators (the RLA) are neither invited nor welcome.
To explain what we can do now, with a view to getting this licensing scheme scrapped altogether, I am hosting an emergency meeting and inviting all Liverpool Landlords to attend on at 7PM on Thursday 26th May 2016. There is no cost to attend. The venue is the Conservative Club, Birkdale Village Southport.
To book your place please complete the form below. I will receive a copy of your contact details.
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Member Since January 2011 - Comments: 12212 - Articles: 1408
8:53 AM, 25th May 2016, About 10 years ago
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Hi Larry
Vanessa at Property Tribes is again taking an opposing stance which is being supported by the RLA Policy Officer David Smoth. Please see the screen shot below.
How would you respond to this?
Does the Council specify section 21, section 8 or do the scheme rules leave that open to interpretation and use a more generic phrase such as “serve notice”?
Member Since May 2016 - Comments: 415 - Articles: 52
9:15 AM, 25th May 2016, About 10 years ago
To update readers some council apologists are now stating that this is inaccurate. Readers will judge for themselves it is absolutely clear. The council say a section 21 must be issued.
The use of a section 8 is not mentioned.Perhaps landlords should start guessing what Liverpool really want and abandon their conditions.
The licensing is a sham and anybody who tries to defend it or mis represent the truth is a Council apologist. Simple as that.
Member Since January 2011 - Comments: 12212 - Articles: 1408
9:21 AM, 25th May 2016, About 10 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Larry Sweeney” at “25/05/2016 – 09:15“:
Hi Larry
Please quote the specific wording
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Member Since May 2016 - Comments: 415 - Articles: 52
9:26 AM, 25th May 2016, About 10 years ago
It is certainly a reflection on the council apologists when they obviously have failed to read the useless license and the conditions. I would suggest they carefully read the conditions and stop mis leading readers and defending this Lcal authority which has zero credibility at this juncture.
Member Since April 2016 - Comments: 68
9:33 AM, 25th May 2016, About 10 years ago
It would be interesting to see the specific wording though.
Can’t the council just amend to state Section 8 and avoid a load of fuss? All seems a bit stupid really.
Member Since January 2011 - Comments: 12212 - Articles: 1408
9:40 AM, 25th May 2016, About 10 years ago
Meanwhile, over on Facebook …..
Member Since November 2013 - Comments: 1130 - Articles: 2
10:00 AM, 25th May 2016, About 10 years ago
I have anecdotal evidence from a thread on the Property Investment Project site that local authorities IN GENERAL throughout England seem to be making up the rules as they go along and employing staff who are completely untrained.
To give a couple of examples: at inspections, one landlord was told his property should be registered as a HMO because his tenant’s nephew stayed weekends; another was told to apply putty to a UPVC window.
The full thread can be read here (scroll to bottom for comments I’ve referred to): http://www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/blog/landlord-licensing/#comments
Member Since February 2011 - Comments: 3453 - Articles: 286
10:07 AM, 25th May 2016, About 10 years ago
Bigger pic from the above by Adam:
Member Since November 2013 - Comments: 1130 - Articles: 2
10:15 AM, 25th May 2016, About 10 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Neil Patterson” at “25/05/2016 – 10:07“:
The full document can be read on Liverpool Council’s site here: https://liverpool.gov.uk/media/8889/landlord-licensing-conditions-23-9-2015.pdf
See clause 4 Anti Social Behaviour (bottom of page 3) and clause 4.3(g) for the specific reference to issuing a section 21.
Member Since January 2011 - Comments: 12212 - Articles: 1408
10:16 AM, 25th May 2016, About 10 years ago
Reply to the comment left by “Mandy Thomson” at “25/05/2016 – 10:00“:
Hi Mandy
Excellent link, great article and great comments too. Thanks for sharing.
I have to admit, I do enjoy reading that particular blog. The language is sometimes a bit “industrial” but having grown up in a working class family from the Black Country that doesn’t concern me. The colourful language actually spices up the articles, although some might find find it offensive.
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