The prospect of landlords being handed a £327 million annual bill for the new government landlord database has been branded a ‘rip-off’.
The National Residential Landlords Association says that the £65 fee per property each year, is nearly seven times the amount ministers imagined when the Renters’ Rights Bill was unveiled.
It says that the information required for the database will already be held by councils running landlord licensing schemes and the cost will be handed to tenants.
Landlord database costs
Ben Beadle, the NRLA’s chief executive, said: “The mind boggles that landlords are to be forced to pay more to manually upload documents to a website than mechanics are permitted to charge to carry out an MOT check, which includes a comprehensive, hands-on examination of a car’s roadworthiness.
“Frankly, landlords and tenants are being ripped off in the name of consumer protection.”
He added: “The hundreds of millions the sector will be expected to pour into this thin gruel of a database would be far better spent helping landlords meet the Government’s energy efficiency targets.”
Licensing fees under scrutiny
Some landlords already pay councils up to £2,300 for a license per property, for example to Arun District Council, with the NRLA saying the same information must be submitted again.
Electric and gas safety certificates will need to be scanned and uploaded manually, adding to compliance costs, with the association warning of a particular burden for those dealing with hundreds or even thousands of homes.
Mr Beadle said: “A well-designed database should make it easy for landlords to demonstrate compliance with their obligations; empower tenants; and be truly digital in every way. This looks likely to fail on every count.
“What we have on offer is a costly mess. It expects payment for landlords to provide much the same information as many already give their councils, with no additional benefit to them or their customers.”
Call to end landlord licensing
Along with the NRLA questioning the new landlord database costs, Propertymark also says landlord licensing should be dumped when the database becomes active.
It says that while landlord licensing can tackle poor housing and help raise standards, Propertymark warns that discretionary schemes bring administrative burdens and significant costs
That sees responsible letting agents and landlords being targeted without the council necessarily improving its poor housing enforcement.
Propertymark says the national infrastructure offers a chance to reduce duplicating the administration.
Focus on criminal landlords
Doing that, the organisation says, will enable councils to focus its resources on enforcement of criminal landlords who are creating the greatest threat to tenants.
Propertymark’s senior policy officer, Tim Thomas, said: “Landlords should be able to see a clear connection between the fees they pay and the improvements being delivered in their local housing market.
“The priority must be enforcement.”
He added: “A licensing system should not become an end in itself, particularly where councils already have extensive powers to identify and act against unsafe or poorly managed housing.”
Use landlord data effectively
Simon Thompson, the managing director of Accommodation for Students, said: “The NRLA raises a valid point for landlords already paying council licensing fees.
“Another annual charge needs proper justification because uploading identical paperwork twice wastes time better spent maintaining homes.”
He added: “Ministers should explain exactly how this database improves enforcement before expecting landlords to fund it.
“And then they should scrap overlapping schemes and use existing information more effectively.”
