LL Licensing on non-HMO's...

Bungarm2001

...has any LL here had to license a property yet?

We have several properties that are within a selective licensing area, and are expecting the LL licensing packs for each property any day. We have never had to do this until now since all our properties are non-HMO's.

I was wondering if anyone else has had to comply, and would they be willing to share any thoughts and warnings of what to expect? For instance, how long is the form and how much did you have to pay? Did you get a reduction for being an accredited LL ?

Any info would be great..ta!

clutton_2

i have - humungous forms - hours of fun to fill in - you need to sent them original CORGI cert, you will need the owners signatures and agents, and it cost me £395 (cos i filled in the forms on time) - it would have been £450 if i'd been late. If you make an error on the form every time they write to you they charge you extra !!!

only AFTER you have complied with the forms did Manchester council send me a 3 page list of what being a "licensed landlord" required me to do - some of the requirements are nonsense - but i figure who is gonna come round a WHOLE ward of rental properties checking on a 3 page list ???? you will also need to be police checked and pay for your own CRB certificate .....

Manchester licenses the Manager - so if i stop managing the owner will have to go thru all this again with a new manager ......

Bungarm2001

We manage some properties ourselves and others with a manager/LA. Either way, this is going to cost us thousands of ££'s!

When we went to the question and answer meetings with the Salford council way back when LL licensing was just an ugly rumour, they didn't have a clue what the exact charge would be then. We suspected it would be in the hundreds, and very naively, one or two LL's at the meeting asked who would be paying this and of course, the answer was 'well, YOU will be of course....'

......errrrrr I think not! :mad:

The councellors (or whoever) were visibly shocked when every LL there said they would be forced to put up the rents to cover this cost.

It proved to me that they think of the LL's as cash cows, a never ending source of funds. I don't think ANY of them see us as just ordinary people trying to make a living like everyone else (yeah I can hear the laughter and snorts of derision from certain regular posters from here) and for some of us, this added expense for what is after all just a bunch of paperwork is unjustified, and only amounts to an extra tax (as you say in your brilliant post on the other thread Clutton! :T ) for nothing in return.

I haven't received anything from Salford yet, or Manchester. It will be interesting to see how each form and fee differs, if at all.

clutton_2

questions have been asked in Westminster about the behaviour of Manchester City councils approach to selective licensing - fat lot of good it did.

IF the !!!!! landlords are EVER identified - they will just get a "Squeaky Clean Manager" to fill in the forms for them and the same old appalling landlords will still offer !!!!! accommodation and still treat tenants like !!!!! and still steal deposits .......

i wonder how long it will be before Ebay offers CRB certificates for sale .......

as usual its the good guys who pay for the bad guys to continue with their rubbish service and immoral practices

Bungarm2001

The bad guys will always find a way around all this...sadly, that will never change.

The thought did occur to me that it will be impossible for them to track down every property in their area that is privately rented. For instance, I have yet another mate who has one property in Salford, within the selective license area and she hasn't come forward to register for licensing because of the cost. She has no intention of doing so...she has, as she put it, disappeared into the long grass.

She manages the place herself, tenant is working so as far as I can see, unless someone dobs her in, got away with it? I wouldn't mind betting that there are hundreds like her. (by the way, she isn't one of the bad guys)

How did we get approached? Well, we got sucked in by the LL Acreditation scheme.

I now honestly think that this particular scheme was set up just to flush out as many LL's as possible and get them on a list somewhere to use in the future. The timing between pushing for Accreditation and then coming up with the licensing is a bit too convenient.

The other way we got into the system was thru the LA who manages some of our properties along with hundreds of others let out to students.

Wonder how many other ways they could flush out the LL's....
I'm guessing that they'll contact any LL whose tenants are in receipt of HB or LHA.

clutton_2

manchester have already announced they will start door-knocking ...

"hello - i'm from manchester city council - are u a tenant ?"

"Whasssit gorra do wif u ?"

"Did your landlord give you a copy of a License to put up on the wall ?"

"How the ***** do i know - he sends me lots of stuff "

"Never mind i'll go back to the office and prosecute your landlord for not Displaying the License if he has one, or for not having one in the first place --- good-day"

They can also identify LLs and tenants and LAs from the council tax computer

i agree - the Accreditation Scheme is yet another set of "jobs for boys who cant get jobs anywhere else" which we all pay for in the council tax.

i rue the day i ever got involved with them

it just shows you their priorities for housing

i have contacted 4 - yes FOUR - different councils offering property to the homeless unit for immediate lets in the last year - and NOT ONE council employee EVER got back to me .......

and yes

before anyone lashes out at me

YES I HAVE GOT MY CYNICAL HEAD ON TODAY AWRIGHT ????

TJ27

It does sound like Manchester have perhaps bitten off more than they can chew in deciding to licensing heaps of properties.

In my opinion they are raving bonkers chosing to licence the manager rather than the owner. Or rather, the manager is raving bonkers to take on that sort of responsibility.

A licence is a little bit like a notice. It is served on the nominated licence holder, who is responsible for seeing that the conditions are met. If they are not met, the fine is a max five grand and that comes with a criminal record.

If, say, thirty grands worth of work needs doing to comply with the conditions and the owner simply says, "sorry I haven't got a penny", guess who gets the fine and the criminal record?? That's right, the licence holder. And if he then has a criminal record for that sort of an offence, will he have any other licences revoked because he is not a fit and proper person? Perhaps.

This is the main reason why, in my area, the owner is always the licence holder. If they refuse to licence, it's a max twenty grand fine. But at least it's the owner who gets that fine and not their agent.

prudryden

I seriously hope this accreditation thingy doesn't catch on with other councils.

Bungarm2001

prudryden wrote: »

I seriously hope this accreditation thingy doesn't catch on with other councils.

Do you mean Landlord Licensing?

Yes I'm afraid it will. It will be rolled out Nationwide eventually. There's nothing to stop it.

They started pilot schemes for this in places like Blackpool, some parts of Leeds etc if I remember rightly to see if the scheme would be workable...well, guess what..as far as they're concerned, it is.

It's gone the way of ALL 'pilot schemes.' Have you ever heard of one that wasn't rolled out nationwide after a set period of time?

clutton_2

in other parts of Lancashire Landlord Accreditation is allegedly about providing good quality homes for tenants and the uibiquitous HHSRS regs are being enforced onto those private landlords who register

my gut instinct 2-3 years back said, "dont join" i wish i'd listened to it !!!

and thats not because i dont want to provide fit property - i use my common sense as to what is a hazard for which tenant and do running repairs as and when they are required - the council want EVERY house so set up as to provide 100% protection against ANY hazard for Every tenant who might EVER live in a property

... landlords know which props need which "amenities" if they are good at their jobs


""If they are not met, the fine is a max five grand and that comes with a criminal record."

ouch !!!!!! fortunately i only let for mates - and we have excellent communication skills

Bungarm2001

Yipppeee!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Had the first of many licensing packs delivered today.

Now the fun starts!!

As you say Clutton, reams of stoopid questions, but the one that stands out is- "What information or guidance do you give to your tenants telling them about nuisance or anti-social behaviour and any action you will take if they behave anti-socially?"

Well, I know what I would LOVE to put in this particular section, but I don't think it would go down too well!!

Any suggestions?