Proposed £1100 licence fee for Landlords in Leicester?

Proposed £1100 licence fee for Landlords in Leicester?

8:48 AM, 12th January 2022, About 2 years ago 17

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My local authority in Leicester is consulting to introduce a Licence for landlords in certain areas or Citywide for fees of around £1100. The consultation paper is extremely long to fill in and questions of the amount of fees to charged with early bird discounts etc. indicates that they have already decided to introduce this scheme.

I feel that the local authority already has enough legislation and power to improve housing standards and take action against any rogue landlords, anti-social behaviour and other issues without the need for a licence.

I feel for tenants as this would increase their rents with all other household costs increasing, there is a danger of tenants losing their homes due to rent arrears.

Has any member of Property 118 experienced any similar situation and taken any successful challenge to stop this, or am I wasting my time in preventing this from being introduced?

Any suggestions and advice would be welcomed.

Many thanks

Dhirajlal


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Comments

Chris Byways

11:04 AM, 15th January 2022, About 2 years ago

Take the annual licensing fee divided by the properties it covers, write to all tenants saying “IF the licence (tax) is introduced they will have to pay £xxx, plus a 10% ‘handling charge’, would they prefer to pay that as a one-off lump sum or as an £xx monthly rent supplement. However they can write and object......”

Jessie Jones

11:49 AM, 15th January 2022, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Chris Byways at 15/01/2022 - 11:04
Might be best to avoid specifying a 'handling charge' as this could well fall foul of the Tenant Fees Act.

But certainly nothing wrong with putting the rent up and letting your tenants know why and who is the councillor in charge. The cost of the scheme is a lot more than the licence fee. In Nottingham they introduced so many conditions, and each one has a cost implication. They made it mandatory for smoke alarms to be mains powered, an EICR before it became a lawful requirement, regular inspections even when the tenant keeps an immaculate house and is long standing and calls you when needed, a necessity to have an Anti Social Behaviour Policy, even if your tenant is a polite little old lady and many many others. Failure to comply has massive fines which are imposed by the council, and not a court.

So by all means put the rent up. All the other landlords will be doing the same as this is what happened in Nottingham. Put it up by much more than the cost of the licence. Write to your tenant explaining why the rent is going up. But still call it 'rent' and not any form of 'fee'.

Jo Ramkissoon

15:42 PM, 15th January 2022, About 2 years ago

Hi Dhirajlal

I'm also a Leicester / shire landlord and interested in your post. How did you find out about the selective licensing consultation? Did LCC contact you directly?

I spoke with a licensing officer 3 years ago, when we were getting an HMO licence and she told us that this would be coming in at some point and in some areas of the city.

I'm interested in knowing if this consultation was sent to you directly or is it just on the LCC website, please.

Kind regards

Jo

Sara Westenborg

13:46 PM, 16th January 2022, About 2 years ago

We challenged Stoke-On-Trent City Council and won in August 2019. Freedom of Information requests through http://www.whatdotheyknow.com is a good place to start. Go to Council meetings, pester and educate Councillors on SL as many do not understand that the income generated from the license fees can only be spent on administration of the scheme and Councils already have the means to improve private sector housing.
https://www.property118.com/stock-on-trent-escapes-for-now/

54PreA

23:48 PM, 25th January 2022, About 2 years ago

I spoke too soon as Peterborough has now re issued plans for licensing this year so no doubt we'll be shafted again for homes that are already in good condition and standards.

Reluctant Landlord

8:48 AM, 26th January 2022, About 2 years ago

Anyone started putting this info in TA to make tenants aware in advance that should licencing be put in place in the area to enable you to legally let, then this will be passed on in the form of a rent rise?

I have a rent increase clause in my TA's but purposely do not state a % increase rise. I make it clear any rent increase will be based on market rates for a similar sized/located property in the location. I have also specified that a rent increases may take place in line with any increase in UC housing allowance rates.

Thinking it would be wise to now specify that local council licencing (if introduced) would also necessitate a rent review and the possibility of a rent increase as a direct result.

In practice would you just increase the rent by the cost of it divided by the total number of months it covers and charge that to the tenant? Realistically if it is a charge to be able to rent the property out then the tenant should pay the lot.

Mick Roberts

7:56 AM, 28th January 2022, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by DSR at 26/01/2022 - 08:48
And the associated costs are a lot more than just the License fee.
Never mind the extra totally unnecessary time.

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