“NO PROPERTY LICENCE, NO RENT” … JUST PANIC

A new tagline being used by the Government to publicise the mandatory licensing of rented property under the new Housing Act, has been condemned as “panic-mongering”.

And leading professional body, the Residential Landlords Association warns “with two weeks to go, it’s far too late in the day for them to be adopting this tone.”

The problem surrounds the country’s estimated 500,000 ‘houses in multiple occupation’ – properties “on three or more storeys with five or more people in two or more households living in them” – which must apply for a mandatory licence.

But a leaflet, issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister ahead of the April 6 implementation of the new Housing Act, also warns that some councils “may choose to license landlords with smaller HMOs as well.”

They use the line “No property licence, no rent”

“And that is way out of line,” says Chris Town, Chairman of the Residential Landlords Association whose members own over 100,000 private rented properties throughout the UK.

“It’s easy to believe that all such landlords need to have a licence – whereas in reality it’s about one in 10 that will be affected. The Government is adopting a spreadshot approach that will create unnecessary panic - because this is the first that many landlords will have heard about it.

“This should have been raised months ago. Now there is going to be a barrage of worried enquiries lodged with local authorities throughout the country and they are just not going to be equipped to handle them all.

“There is so much about this Act that is unclear or ambiguous that landlords without serious support behind them will have to watch out. It’s never been more important for them to have proper access to the right professional and legal advice. It’s no time to be going it alone. Membership of an organisation like the Residential Landlords Association is going to be critical in the months to come.”

Local authorities will grant licences, says the ODPM leaflet, if they are satisfied that “the proposed licence holder and any manager of the property is a fit and proper person”, “proper management standards are being applied at the property” and “the HMO is reasonably suitable.”

And each local authority will set its own licence fee level.

What happens if a landlord doesn’t licence a qualifying property? They have three months before being hit with “enforcement measures” - including fines of up to £20,000 and losing the right to manage their properties.