NRLA secures major Telford licensing win

Telford and Wrekin Council has withdrawn plans to introduce additional licensing for smaller HMOs following an intervention brought by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA). The scheme, which was originally under consultation in late 2025, aimed to extend licensing requirements to shared houses with three or four occupants. Had it been allowed to proceed, landlords of smaller HMOs would have been forced to pay a licensing fee of more than £1,500 per property. This would have been accompanied by an administrative burden, greatly adding to the day-to-day costs for local landlords.

The scheme would also have created duplication for landlords as the West Midlands becomes the first region required to join the new national landlord database from 15 December 2026 – and would have involved uploading the same compliance information and duplicating effort for no demonstrable benefit. Having followed the proposals since their inception, the NRLA contacted the council to raise concerns about their failure to properly consult, and after failing to receive a response, instructed lawyers to launch a legal challenge.

The complaint stated, amongst other points, that the consultation was so unfair as to be unlawful.

The NRLA found that the council had failed to:

• properly publicise the designation;
• provide key consultation documents;
• answer concerns about the legal basis and justification for additional charges;
• Repeatedly respond to questions when challenged. 

The council first argued against this position, then proposed simply to conduct the steps it had missed. However, on 11th September 2026, it revoked the designation in its entirety, with effect from 15th September 2026.

The challenge was led by the NRLA’s policy team, with Senior Policy Officer Samantha Watkin working with the Association’s legal advisers to raise the concerns with the council.

Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the NRLA, said:

“This is a major win for landlords which sends a message to councils across the country: if you do not exercise your powers within the limits of the law, you will be challenged.

“We raised serious concerns about both the process followed and the additional costs landlords would have faced. When those concerns were not addressed, we were prepared to challenge the designation through the courts. The council has now revoked it in full.

“Good regulation should protect tenants while supporting responsible landlords. At a time when a new national landlord database is being introduced, councils should also think very carefully before imposing additional local schemes which duplicate information and costs without demonstrating clear benefits. When established processes aren’t followed, we are ready to take action to ensure landlords are treated fairly.”

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

·       The scheme challenged was The Borough Council of Telford and Wrekin Designation for an Area for Additional Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation 2026.

·       Key dates: the NRLA's letter before claim was issued on 19 August 2026; the scheme was originally due to commence on 25 August 2026; the Council revoked the designation on 11 September 2026, with effect from 15 September 2026.

·       The NRLA found that:

·       The Council failed to properly announce the scheme - the law says a council must formally publicise a new licensing scheme as required by the relevant regulation, alongside publicising the scheme in local newspapers, on public notice boards, on its website, and directly to everyone who took part in the consultation. The council has admitted this failing. 

·       Did not give people the full picture - key documents, including the proposed fees and the rules landlords would have had to follow, were missing from the consultation page, even though people were told they were included. When the NRLA challenged this, the council still failed to provide working links to the relevant documents. 

·       The Council failed to charge fairly and lawfully - The council brought in extra charges, including a £150 fee for missed appointments, which the NRLA argued it had no lawful basis to impose, and for which no costs justification was produced. 

·       Telford & Wrekin Council repeatedly failed to adequately respond to questions when challenged - the NRLA first asked the council on 30th April 2026 to confirm a simple point: whether a link to the cabinet papers had ever been placed on the consultation page itself. The question was chased on 15th May, the reply on 22nd May did not answer it, and it was still unanswered in the council's eleven-page formal response. When that response did supply web links, they did not work, and the council stayed silent on the NRLA's objections to the fees.

·       The Government's national private rented sector database (the "Register your rental property" service) launches on 15th December 2026, starting with the West Midlands. Registration costs £65 per property each year, and West Midlands landlords must register by 14th March 2027.

·       The NRLA has warned that landlords who already pay for local licensing should not have to pay twice to provide the same information to a national database.

·       The National Residential Landlords Association is the UK's largest membership organisation for private residential landlords, supporting and representing over 110,000 members.

·       Further information about the NRLA can be found at www.nrla.org.uk. It posts on X @NRLAssociation.

·      The NRLA's press office can be contacted by emailing [email protected] or by calling 0300 131 6363.