A selective landlord licensing scheme for those letting property in Redbridge has received support from councillors.
Landlord Licensing Scheme Receives Support from Redbridge Councillors
The scheme has been proposed for 14 wards that are particularly popular with private tenants in the London borough.
Discussions about the plans dominated the Neighbourhood and Services Committee meeting this week, with councillors deciding to press ahead with the scheme.
Councillor Gwyneth Deakins, the Liberal Democrat leader for Roding, says: “I support [the plans] because I have always supported landlord registration in the borough.”
The proposals will now go before the full cabinet meeting on Thursday 21st July, before going out for formal consultation.
Deakins adds: “It certainly gets my support, because I think landlords get a lot of money from the council and Government through housing benefit. It is about time more had to toe the line in terms of standards and priorities.”
However, Conservative councillors in Redbridge are unhappy about the proposals, after witnessing a similar scheme across the whole borough fail.
Describing Wednesday’s meeting as “déjà vu”, Conservative Councillor Paul Canal called the plans nothing short of a “tax” aimed at raising money for the council.
He explains: “When it was brought a year ago, we said that we would support the introduction of the scheme covering less than a fifth of the borough, without having to refer it to the Government.
“They were determined to do a 100% scheme. Our view was that it would be a tax. We wrote a formal objective about the scheme. A year on, they are now going for a scheme that covers 78% of the borough.”
The National Landlords Association’s Richard Blanco described the council’s plans to introduce a selective landlord licensing scheme as a “cynical” attempt to raise fees to fund the council’s private sector housing department.
Do you believe areas with high levels of private tenants should operate selective landlord licensing schemes?