To qualify for a licence, landlords must provide proof that they are up to spec with safety and management standards, and are a “fit and proper person”.
Under the Housing Act of 2004, local authorities currently have powers to introduce selective licensing of privately rented homes to address problems in their area, or any part of them, caused by low housing demand and/or significant anti-social behaviour.
Selective licensing applies to properties that are let to one or two people, or one family households. Where there are multiple rented flats in the same block or building that are owned and managed by the same person, the building may qualify for a single selective license.
Oxford’s five-year licence will cost private landlords £480, with £80 off for those who apply within the first three months, and a discounted fee of £280 for accredited landlords. This applies to anyone letting their property.
Similar selective licensing schemes are also set to come into force this year in Liverpool and Milton Keynes.
Councils are taking the wrong approach
The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) is against the initiative.
It argues that councils like Oxford City Council are taking an ineffective route by licensing all landlords at a cost instead of using the data available to take direct enforcement action against bad actors.
A spokesperson for the NRLA said: “All our research shows there is no clear link between licensing schemes and improved enforcement against criminal and rogue landlords. Too often such schemes penalise responsible landlords who will come forward to be identified, whilst failing to find those operating under the radar.
“Oxford, like all other councils, should focus instead on better using the wide array of data already available to identify landlords and take action against those bringing the sector into disrepute. This includes council tax and housing benefit data along with information held by the Land Registry.”
Clamp down on Oxford’s rogue landlords
According to the Oxford Mail, 49.3 per cent of Oxford homes are privately rented. Of the estimated 30,500 homes rented out, 6,200 could have a serious housing hazard, according to an independent review conducted in 2020.
Imogen Thomas, the city council’s private sector tenants’ champion, said: “That means that conditions will be improved, tenants will be safer, and law-abiding landlords need not fear being undercut by the cowboys.
“Tenants in the private rented sector are all too often left at the mercy of a system that it is weighted against them.”
