Croydon Landlord License - £750 for 2 months!

dimbo61

Up north it's it's over £1,000 for a HMO licence but that is for 5 years from when you apply.
You also need to get all the documents together, 
EPC, EICR, PAT testing, Planning permission, Article 4, building regs , Fire safety including fire doors, waste management and Landlord maintenance arrangements. ROOM SIZE 
This will all be checked when the HMO Inspection is carried out.

anselld

dimbo61 said:

Up north it's it's over £1,000 for a HMO licence but that is for 5 years from when you apply.
You also need to get all the documents together, 
EPC, EICR, PAT testing, Planning permission, Article 4, building regs , Fire safety including fire doors, waste management and Landlord maintenance arrangements. ROOM SIZE 
This will all be checked when the HMO Inspection is carried out.

This is not necessarily a HMO.  Croydon is a selective licensing scheme which applies to all rentals which are not mandatory HMOs.  It is largely pointless since most of the required standards are already mandatory anyway.  It does of course keep Council pen pushers employed.

princeofpounds

Welcome to the wonderful world of council bureaucracy. Staffed by geniuses.

silvercar

adam5609 said:

silvercar said:

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

Up to 30k fine if caught 

Hmm!
From their FAQ:
How will you tackle the landlords who haven’t signed up to the scheme? We will contact unlicensed landlords with information about the scheme and how to apply. If the landlord does not respond we will send a reminder, but if there is still no response we will look to prosecute them for failing to apply for a licence. 

By the time they have contacted you and given you time to apply and then sent a reminder and then waited to see if "there is still no response", you would be within the application time for the new 5 year period.

adam5609

anselld said:

dimbo61 said:

Up north it's it's over £1,000 for a HMO licence but that is for 5 years from when you apply.
You also need to get all the documents together, 
EPC, EICR, PAT testing, Planning permission, Article 4, building regs , Fire safety including fire doors, waste management and Landlord maintenance arrangements. ROOM SIZE 
This will all be checked when the HMO Inspection is carried out.

This is not necessarily a HMO.  Croydon is a selective licensing scheme which applies to all rentals which are not mandatory HMOs.  It is largely pointless since most of the required standards are already mandatory anyway.  It does of course keep Council pen pushers employed.

Correct, I won't be letting mine as a HMO. I'd be interested to see whether or not they continue with the scheme past September. Although if it keeps their staff employed why wouldn't they I guess.

ProDave

It is truly unbelievable if the licence runs for a fixed time of the councils choosing.

Every other licence or registration system I know, you start your licence on the date you need it and it runs for a fixed time from that date before needing renewing.

I would be inclined to follow the above post and apply for the licence on the rollover date and keep your head down in the mean time.

AdrianC

adam5609 said:

Slithery said:

Don't let the property until after September?

I need to pay the mortgage

If £750 set against two months rental income is a showstopper for the viability of your business, DON'T START THE BUSINESS.

You need to have sufficient cash reserves to weather voids, maintenance, repairs, bad debts, legal costs... If £375/mo for two months is the difference between this being a viable business and you falling into debt, SELL THE PROPERTY.

lincroft1710

Luton Council is introducing a licensing scheme for all rental properties in certain wards which it believes have above average anti social behavioural problems. 

Crashy_Time

adam5609 said:

Slithery said:

Don't let the property until after September?

I need to pay the mortgage

If things are that tight should you really be a landlord?

adam5609

adam5609 said:

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.

Thanks for this. Looking the best option