Supporters of the move say that the scheme would crack down on rogue landlords who rent out low standard properties.
In Northampton, landlords are already warning that the council’s proposals will push up rents and not tackle the issue of poor landlords.
Councillors there are due to decide whether they should begin consultation on bringing in a new licence fee which would cost landlords several hundred pounds a year for each property they rent out.
Landlord Richard Dawson, who has 30 rental properties in Northampton, slammed the proposal, saying they would not lead to standards improving but could push up rents and punish decent landlords.
He added: “It will inevitably increase costs for tenants as the landlords will have to pay an extra fee and they will then pass this on. It won’t help tenants living under bad landlords as they will just stay under the radar of the council.”
He is backed up by fellow landlord Susan Dowding, who has been renting out property for more than 20 years, who says that the council should target individual landlords rather than the sector as a whole.
Meanwhile, Brighton and Hove City Council is also looking at the license which they are keen to run across the city.
They say such a scheme would improve conditions for tenants and the proposal follows its own recently created powers to help regulate HMOs which are popular with students in the city.
Landlords who run around 800 shared homes along the Lewes Road corridor already have to comply with the licensing scheme.
Brighton’s council is also looking at whether it should begin a consultation process to introduce the wider scheme and to gauge reaction from landlords, letting agents and residents.
Brighton is a boom town for rental properties and the most recent census revealed that the private rented sector there has increased by 37% since 2001.
The Brighton and Hove Estate Agents Association says the city has a high demand for shared housing and the licensing scheme appears to be working in the Lewes Road corridor.
However, they also highlight that the licensing scheme costs appear to have been absorbed by landlords who have not increased rents, and they also question whether the council has the resources to implement a scheme running across the city.
Both Brighton and Northampton are following in the footsteps of the council at Newham, East London, which created the first licensing scheme in the country to cover the entire district – and several other councils are looking at their scheme with a view to implementing similar versions.
