Greenwich Council Re-launching Consulation Over Selective Licensing

It has been reported that Greenwich Council is re-launching its consultation on additional licensing plans as a result of complaints from leading landlord organizations. Private landlords have always found the issue of selective licensing to be a contentious one and now Councils are increasingly scrutinizing how such schemes are run and the impact they are having on the private rental market as a result of the way they are operated.

When introducing selective licensing, councils must consult lawfully and follow government guidance in order to avoid serious financial consequences for landlords.

It was reported at the end of last year that Greenwich Council had conducted an additional licensing consultation, which the NRLA considered to be unlawful for the following reasons:

Documents related to the consultation were not easily accessible, and a report that supported an alternative scheme couldn’t be found. The report also did not include a specific report that was commissioned by the council regarding a review of the original additional licensing scheme, and there were no alternatives made to selective licensing.

A member of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) contacted Greenwich Council, highlighting some of the shortcomings in the consultation; if additional licensing were designated based on the results of the consultation, the NRLA would take legal action and escalate the matter to the courts. Following feedback from various stakeholders, the Council will relaunch the consultation with the additional documentation.

There is no doubt that the original 2016-2021 scheme was a failure, and as reported in the Council’s own commissioned report, most license holders of the previous additional licensing designation reported that they were:

• Unsatisfied with the scheme
• Dissatisfaction with the licensing process was expressed
• Unsatisfied with the fee payment process
• Application process communication was also unsatisfactory.

Most of the survey respondents reported that the additional licensing scheme had no impact on the property conditions, or management standards among HMOs, or the local community in any way.

A variety of freedom of information requests were also submitted during the course of the years 2021 and 2022.

In addition, the previous designation of additional licensing had been audited for a little over four years, and the Council had taken about nine months to decide on an application; out of an estimated 6,500 HMOs, 79 were inspected, and 12 of them were deemed to have hazards of a category one level.

As the inspection rate remained relatively static during the pandemic, there was little impact on the number of inspections performed as a result of the outbreak. A total of 472 HHSRS inspections were conducted in the PRS between the period of 2018-2021, and 100 Improvement Notices were issued by the Council.

This is despite (based on previous statements) the Council employs seventeen Environmental Health Officers in order to enforce standards in private rented accommodation. Regardless of this, the council still maintains that the scheme has been a success, which justifies the introduction of another borough-wide designation in the future. 

In order to enforce its policies, the Greenwich district council relies heavily on selective licensing. Even though the previous scheme had some of the highest license fees in London, it did not have a scheduled inspection regime in place during the time the previous scheme was in force.

In lieu of implementing a consistent strategy and fully exercising existing enforcement powers, the Council has instead turned to a nuclear option rather than implementing a consistent strategy. It will be hard for the Council to prove that additional licensing is the only way to solve problems in Greenwich’s PRS, so landlords will have to speak up in order to be heard.

In response to the new consultation, which will run until 24th March, it is expected that the NRLA will respond and it is advised that all landlords do the same.

If you have any questions about this may affect you as a landlord or your tax affairs feel free to contact UK Landlord Tax on 01902 711370 or email enquiries@uklandlordtax.co.uk

If you found this article to be informative then you might wish to consider reading our guide to ATED or try out our Welsh stamp duty calculator next.

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