Your licensing update for April

There are a number of local licensing schemes which are set to come into force in the summer.

A new licensing scheme has been given the go ahead in Newham, for what is an ‘unprecedented’ third five-year term.

The council’s current selective licensing scheme started on 1 March 2018 and it is set to end on 28 February 2023. An almost borough-wide selective licensing scheme will then come into force from June, applying to all Newham wards except for Stratford Olympic Park and Royal Victoria. Read more.

Centrally, in the London borough of Chelsea and Kensington, an additional licensing scheme will begin on 1st June 2023. The borough wide additional licensing scheme will run for five years. More on the designation can be read here.

Outside of London and in Middlesborough, a selective licensing scheme currently runs in North Ormesby and part of the Newport Ward. The council has announced that plans to extend the Newport ward scheme - to apply to more areas - were given the go-ahead this week with the new scheme set to come into force on 3rd July. Click here to learn more about the designated areas and to understand how you can apply for a licence if your property requires one.

In other licensing news, a property agency has been fined £35,000 for failing to licence properties in the London borough of Enfield. In total three properties were not licenced when they should have been.

Finally, the House of Commons Library published a research briefing paper on the selective licensing of private landlords in England and Wales a few weeks ago. The paper explains the definition of licensing, why schemes are introduced and includes views on the effectiveness of licensing on the whole. Of note, it mentions “landlord evidence to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee inquiry into Reforming the Private Rented Sector (PDF) argued the regime is unnecessary”. It can be read in full here.

Current licensing consultations

The NRLA aims to respond to all property licensing consultations, and members can learn more about effectively responding to consultations in our free Licensing Toolkit. Please see below for a list of current property licensing consultations. This is not an exhaustive list, and more can be found when using NRLA Licensing, a free member benefit, powered by our partner, Kamma Data.

Tower Hamlets: Additional HMO licensing (Closes 31st March 2023)
Tower Hamlets Council is consulting in relation to a proposed a new five-year borough-wide additional licensing scheme. If approved it would start at the end of the current scheme (April 2024). This proposal extends to the areas of Weavers, Whitechapel, Spitalfields and Banglatown, which were excluded from the current scheme. Have your say on the plans here.

Nottingham: additional licensing (closes 24th May 2023)
Nottingham City Council launched an additional licensing consultation on 1st March. If approved, the scheme would last for five years until 2028. Have your say in this consultation and read the full plans here.