Landlords to pay £500 a home to licence 35,000 buy to lets

Student landlords will have to pay a £500 licensing fee on every property in Newham, East London, as the council aims to tackle poor rental housing for tenants. Councillors have agreed to start a scheme to licence the homes of more than 35,000 private renters from January 1, 2013. The scheme is the first in the UK to licence all private rental properties in a council district, including buy to lets and houses in multiple occupation (HMO). Research results issued by the council shows 74% of residents and 76% of tenants support the scheme. Landlords can claim a £350 discount on the £500 five-year fee by signing up before the start date of January 1, 2013. Applications before the start date will qualify for the one-off discount. Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales said: "It is clear from our consultation that our residents, including tenants in private sector homes, back our plans. This scheme shows that Newham is leading the country when it comes to tackling bad landlords who flout the law. "We want to ensure that private sector rented properties are well managed and meet a good standard. We also want to deal with the crime and anti-social behaviour that is sometimes associated with bad private sector rented housing. "There are good landlords in Newham and we want to work with them. Unfortunately there are also some unscrupulous ones - which these proposals would target. We will never accept private sector tenants being directly exploited by landlords who force them to live in dangerous and unacceptable conditions. "Good landlords have nothing to fear from this scheme. For the bad ones, this a clear message they must clean up their act - or pay the price. One bad house can drag down a whole street. We are doing this for the community." The council ran a pilot licensing scheme in Newham's Little Ilford Neighbourhood Improvement Zone (NIZ) which achieved 100% compliance, claims the council. Click here for more about private rental licensing in Newham [Opens in new window] [LINK - www.newham.gov.uk/housing/privatesectorhousing.htm ]

Landlord blog

Sam Dickinson

Further reading

Student visa applications plummeted by 14% in 2024

Demand for PBSA in the UK highlights global supply imbalance

Landlord buy to let deal choice hits historic peak