The licence fee and standards
The current cost of an application for an existing selective licensing scheme is £650 for the first property and £550 for any additional properties. The licence fee for any new schemes will be reviewed to take into account any increased costs and may vary depending on the size and scale of the areas involved. If you have one or more properties within the designated area(s) you will need to obtain a licence for each property.
Once we have set an area for selective licensing, landlords will have three months to get their licences.
Who can get a licence?
To apply for a licence a landlord will have to be a ‘fit and proper’ person.
To decide this we will consider
- any criminal convictions to do with violence, drugs, sexual offences or fraud
- whether they have broken any laws to do with housing or being a landlord
- whether they have been found guilty of unlawful discrimination.
They will also have to meet standards in how they treat their tenants, including
- written tenancy agreements for tenants
- putting deposits in a deposit protection scheme
And they will have to make sure the house meets certain standards including
- gas safety checks
- electrical safety checks
- fitting smoke alarms