LANDLORDS MONITOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES OVER THE HOUSING ACT

Every local housing authority in England has received a letter from the Residential Landlords Association over their plans to levy fees on landlords who rent out 'houses in multiple occupation'.

HMOs, which need to be licensed under the government's new Housing Act, are properties with three or more storeys and are occupied by five or more unrelated tenants. They account for an estimated 540,000 houses and flats rented to such as students and post graduates, student nurses and trainee teachers.

But the new regulations, to be implemented next year, give individual local authorities the freedom to interpret the rules differently. So far, there is no limit on the fees they can introduce to licence an HMO. And many properties will face upgrades to comply with the new legislation.

"Uncertainty on this scale could add up to a financial disaster that could drive many landlords out of business," says Chris Town, Chairman of the Residential Landlords Association whose members own over 100,000 private rented properties throughout the UK.

So the RLA letter asks the heads of each local authority Environmental Health and Treasurer's department what consultation machinery they have in place to discuss implementation issues with landlords.

And a 'freedom of information' request will ask how they plan to calculate HMO fees as well as for clarification on their interpretation of charges for administering the Housing Health and Safety Rating System.

"The issue of uncapped fees, alone," says Chris Town, "means the RLA needs to closely monitor the ways that local authorities plan to implement HMO licensing legislation and we need to press for a satisfactory level of co-operation and consultation with local landlords throughout the country."

The Residential Landlords Association (tel: 0845 666 5000) is a leading national organisation for professional landlords, residential property investors and self-managers - with members owning over 100,000 properties in the UK private rented sector. The range of members' services - on www.rla.org.uk - includes legal advice, insurance, financial services, credit referencing and training. For tenants there is www.tenantdocs.co.uk - where tips include a free download of the RLA's award-winning Plain English tenancy agreement. The RLA operates a web-based property search on www.homes2rent.net and publishes the bi-monthly Residential Property Investor magazine.

For further press information and interviews please contact

Brian Johnson at Powell Communications - tel: 0161 834 9836, fax: 0161 839 2660; brian.johnson@powell-pr.co.uk