Victory for landlords as council withdraws raft of additional licensing conditions

In a victory for landlords, Great Yarmouth Council has been forced to U-turn and withdraw a raft of additional licensing conditions following a successful challenge by the Eastern Landlords Association (ELA).

The council has now reverted largely to the mandatory conditions prescribed by the Housing Act 2004, although its selective licensing scheme remains in place.

The U-turn follows a challenge by the ELA over a series of conditions it said went well beyond the statutory requirements.

Cannot impose blanket licence conditions

James Crickmore, vice chair and general manager of the ELA, told Property118 that the council’s original draft licence conditions included a wide range of additional requirements covering property inspections and waste management.

The ELA challenged the conditions, drawing on recent tribunal and court decisions, including the landmark Fletcher v Portsmouth City Council case.

That case reinforced that councils cannot simply impose blanket licence conditions without specific justification relating to the individual property.

Following the challenge, Great Yarmouth Council revised its licence conditions.

The new conditions now consist almost entirely of the mandatory requirements set out in Schedule 4 of the Housing Act 2004, together with a limited notification of changes provision and an antisocial behaviour condition to be applied only on a case-by-case basis.

Mr Crickmore said the outcome showed why landlords should not simply accept licensing conditions.

Huge victory for landlords

Mr Crickmore said: “This outcome demonstrates why landlords should not simply accept licence conditions at face value.

“Where councils introduce measures that go beyond the powers granted by the Housing Act, those decisions must be challenged. We support proportionate and lawful regulation, but equally we will continue to hold councils accountable and ensure licensing schemes remain within their legal remit.

“This is a positive result not just for landlords in Great Yarmouth, but for landlords across the country facing similar issues.”

Chair of the ELA Paul Cunningham added: “This is a huge victory for landlords; councils have to realise that trying to impose draconian conditions on a selective license will be challenged. It also demonstrates that the whole selective licensing process is flawed.

“The conditions now are conditions that landlords already adhere to, but they now have to pay in order for the council can inspect. They already have sufficient powers in order to do this which just shows the licensing process is solely a cash cow.”

“This council says it wants to work with landlords; imposing such unlawful conditions is hardly a good example of that.  Hopefully this will send a message across the country so other local authorities will think twice before going down the selective licensing route.”

Good landlords have nothing to fear

A spokesperson for the council confirmed the scheme still remains in place

The spokesperson said: ‘’In common with all local authorities, following a recent court case involving a challenge to HMO licence conditions in Portsmouth, GYBC has some restrictions in how it applies conditions to every property.

‘’This applies to all HMO and selective licensing schemes across England and other local authorities will also be reviewing their licence conditions.

‘’Prior to the case, most local authorities with selective licensing schemes included blanket conditions relating to the good management and safety of the licensed premises. Conditions relating to anti-social behaviour, rubbish/waste and the condition of the external fabric are also intended to tackle problems contributing to deprivation within the selective licensing area – one of the reasons the scheme was introduced.

‘’Following the appeal decision, the council has taken the view that it should remove most of its blanket conditions and only apply them in individual cases where appropriate. The licence conditions have been amended to include general advice to landlords explaining their duties under other legislation and the council is committed to using that legislation where appropriate to achieve the aims of the scheme.

‘’This legal ruling has no effect on the council’s powers to inspect licensed properties and to assess them for hazards. The inspection programme will continue as planned and the council will make full use of its new powers to impose civil penalties if serious hazards are found.

‘’Apart from a short delay while the council sought legal advice, it has not affected the application process because no full licences have yet been issued. There is a statutory consultation period within the licensing process so, where draft licences have been issued, these will be reissued with the new conditions and a further 28 days allowed for representations.

‘’This does not fundamentally impact the overall objectives of the scheme, which are to ensure that tenants in the selective licensing area are living in warm and safe accommodation.’’

As previously reported by Property118, the council have said good landlords have nothing to fear from selective licensing.

A spokesperson for Great Yarmouth council said previously: “The council considered the views of more than 275 respondents before producing its proposal. The consultation saw the council make a number of changes to the proposal, including reducing the cost to landlords.

“Selective licensing schemes already operate successfully across wide parts of the country and no one should lose sight of the fact that the only purpose of introducing a selective licensing scheme is to improve the quality of housing for people in our communities.

“Good landlords have nothing to fear from a selective licensing scheme, wherever they operate, and the council is confident its proposal meets all the necessary legal requirements for its introduction.’’