The Prime Minister has announced plans for an obligatory licensing scheme for all private landlords.
In a speech discussing proposals for controlling immigration ahead of the Queen’s Speech next week, David Cameron said: “For the first time, we’ve had landlords checking whether their tenants are here legally. So now we’ve got a majority, we will roll out licensing nationwide and we’ll change the rules so landlords can evict illegal immigrants more quickly.
“We’ll also crack down on the unscrupulous landlords who cram houses full of illegal immigrants, by introducing a new mandatory licensing regime. We’ll consult on cancelling tenancies automatically at the same point.”1
It is not yet known what the process or timeframe of this introduction will be, and the effects are unknown.
CEO of the National Landlords Association (NLA), Richard Lambert, supports the plan to tackle criminals acting as private landlords to exploit illegal migrants.
He says: “However, it is essential that councils are given the necessary funding to ensure that they can enforce these powers effectively. This would help drive up standards in the sector and send a powerful message to criminals.
“One of the fundamental reasons that a minority of criminal landlords are able to get away with providing poor living conditions is that councils do not have the resources to make use of their already significant powers.”1
Many councils have introduced selective licensing, however, this does not waste resources, as the letting agent can be the license holder. The new licensing rules could be beneficial to the sector.
1 http://us8.campaign-archive2.com/?u=b262206cb106d9f7a6cc34305&id=940e46d469