Two councils are facing legal challenges in the High Court from hundreds of landlords angry over shared house licensing controls.
The landlords - in Accrington, Lancashire, and Margate, Kent - are concerned selective licensing of house in multiple occupation will blight their properties and restrict their letting businesses.
Some landlords fear their properties will lose value and a few claim lenders have rejected buy to let mortgage applications because their properties are in areas under HMO selective licensing.
Around 350 landlords are taking Hyndburn Council, Lancashire, to court after the council imposed selective licensing on 1,326 HMOs in Accrington and the surrounding area in March 2010.
Councillors are accused of failing to consult on the move properly. In retaliation, the council claimed landlords were too late to object in court, but this argument was thrown out by a judge.
The Southern Landlords Association (SLA) argues Thanet Council was unfair to impose selective licensing on the grounds to combat noise and antisocial behaviour in the streets because HMO landlords have no legal responsibility to manage their tenants off their properties.
Spokesman Mike Stimpson said the SLA barrister George Pullman QC has applied to the High Court to carry out the judicial review and is awaiting a response.
HMO selective licensing is available to a council that can prove:
• Licensing is needed in a neighbourhood to manage shared properties that do not meet mandatory HMO licensing requirements.
• A council can enforce selective licensing to cover all privately rented property in a neighbourhood that is or is likely to become an area of low housing demand and/or suffers significant and persistent anti-social behaviour.
The government, councils and landlords in several cities have tussled over shared housing laws recently.
Earlier this year, landlords and letting agents in Oxford formed an alliance that threatened to take the city council to the High Court in a row over planning permission for HMOs. The action was halted when the council withdrew their proposals.
In April, the government won a High Court review of HMO planning policies by councils in Milton Keynes, Newcastle upon Tyne, Oxford and Charnwood (Loughborough) after they claimed Housing Minister Grant Shapps failed to consult with them over law changes.
