Croydon Landlord License - £750 for 2 months!

adam5609

I'm looking to rent my house out and have discovered that Croydon council requires me to have a landlord licence. I believe the money raised goes toward helping the council ensure tennants receive a certain quality of property from their landlord which I think is great. The licence is £750 for five years which seems fairly reasonable. However, the website says that the will not pro rata and licence covers fixed dates - October 2015 to September 2020. Therefore  it looks as though I'm going to have to pay £750 for renting my house of for two months and then another £750 in September for the next five years. I can't believe they won't take the fact there is such little time remaining of this periods license into account and simply pro rata it! I've no idea whether this is legal or not - does anyone on here know or do they have any experience of the Croydon licence? As far as I know it's the only council that makes landlords pay the fee. Thanks all.

ProDave

And I complained at just renewing my Landlord Registration with the Highland Council at a cost of £81 for three years.

Slithery

Don't let the property until after September?

davidmcn

adam5609 said:

As far as I know it's the only council that makes landlords pay the fee.

Eh? Who do you think pays the fees for other councils' licences?

adam5609

Slithery said:

Don't let the property until after September?

I need to pay the mortgage

adam5609

davidmcn said:

adam5609 said:

As far as I know it's the only council that makes landlords pay the fee.

Eh? Who do you think pays the fees for other councils' licences?

I'm new to renting out property but as far as I was aware a landlord doesn't need a licence to rent out one non HMO in most cities/counties. Obviously I'm wrong.

Slithery

I don't believe that you have any other options. It is, however, one of the fees that you should have built into your financial projections before deciding to start a residential lettings business.

adam5609

Slithery said:

I don't believe that you have any other options. It is, however, one of the fees that you should have built into your financial projections before deciding to start a residential lettings business.

Thanks. Yep I have done. I'm just surprised it's legal to charge the same amount for two months as it is for 60 months and for there to be no leeway on it.

silvercar

What happens if you don’t have a licence for the first two months?

adam5609

silvercar said:

What happens if you don’t have a licence for the first two months?

Up to 30k fine if caught 

HampshireH

Its a 5 year trial scheme.

It doesnt lool like ypu have a choice all the literature i really clear on it.

Does seem a bit odd but it was designed to be a five year scheme. Then to be reviewed.

Nice little money maker for them