Landlords who claim Blackpool Council proposals will make rentals unviable threaten to sell up and leave town

Landlords have warned they may have to sell up their properties and put vulnerable people on the streets if plans for a new licensing scheme go ahead in Blackpool.

They said proposals mean they will have to pay hundreds of pounds in licence fees on top of rising mortgage rates and other costs.The extra financial burden means many landlords – who said they already provide good quality homes – believe they would have to either pass the cost onto tenants through higher rents, or sell up as the rental market becomes unviable.

Both actions could force up rents in the town – where three-bedroom homes already cost around £600 a month on average in rent. The council is seeking to adopt tougher powers covering around 11,000 privately rented properties in the poorest parts of Blackpool by introducing a selective licensing scheme.

If it gets the go-ahead, it would cover the eight wards of Bloomfield, Brunswick, Claremont, Talbot, Tyldesley, Warbreck, Waterloo and Victoria.Town hall chiefs said the scheme will give tenants better homes while discounts on the licence fee, which covers a five year period, mean it will cost as little as £69 a year.

What do landlords think?

Dawn Smith, speaking on behalf of a network of Blackpool landlords who between them own and manage around 200 properties in the areas to be covered, said the council should use other powers to target bad landlords rather than placing an additional burden on existing good landlords.

She said: “I simply cannot afford the selective licences, so my tenants will have to pay. How will they afford it in the current climate?  I already have one sale going through and others will follow for sure if this comes in.

“People will be evicted from their homes, good people that live well and don’t have the police at their door.  They must find alternative accommodation that will undoubtedly be stressful and costly.

“Most of my tenants have been with me over a decade and some are vulnerable. In the last six months I have had to seek out sheltered accommodation for one tenant, and a care home for another.”

Another landlord Riccy Caunce warned: “The tenants will be worse off because the cost of the licence will be partially pushed onto them through rent increases as landlords are already under pressure from mortgage increases etc.

“I and the network of over 200 landlords, who strive to provide good quality accommodation, are simply being pushed out of the market by government and councils who are currently preventing us from remaining solvent to continue in business.

“This will only leave the cash rich (as they don’t maintain their properties), unscrupulous landlords to continue in their poor offerings. Buy-to-let landlords are at breaking point and very close to leaving the market which will be devastating for Blackpool Council in an already very poor situation.”

Landlords said they support the council’s aim of ensuring tenants have good quality homes, but this can be achieved under existing powers set out as part of the Decent Homes standard. Information held for example by environmental health and records on safety certificates could also be used to weed out the bad landlords.

Why is the council seeking to introduce the licensing scheme?

A single licence covering five years would cost £722, but a number of discounts are in place which reduce the cost to £347 or £69 a year.

Coun Mark Smith, cabinet member for levelling up – place, said: “We know  Blackpool has a number of great landlords and we are keen to work collaboratively with those landlords to provide decent quality housing solutions across Blackpool.

“Unfortunately there are still rogue landlords in existence not just in Blackpool but across the country.”

A government-funded Decent Homes pilot scheme recently found more than half the properties visited by enforcement teams in Blackpool did not meet current standards. However national powers are yet to be put in place and would not be externally funded.

 Coun Smith added: “The proposed selective licensing scheme will enable us to take a proactive approach to inspection and allow us to get behind the front door of every property in the area to protect our residents and make sure they are living in safe and suitable housing.

 “Selective licensing of an area not only addresses the poor management of some landlords in the area but also assists in reducing crime and antisocial behaviour across an area which benefits good landlords by making it a more which can only be positive for landlords and residents.

 “Blackpool Council has run selective licensing schemes previously in Central, South Beach and Claremont. Whilst area-based improvements were noticed, these were only short term and it was evident that these improvements would not be sustained without further licensing over a longer period of time.

“We have listened to feedback from previous selective licensing schemes on the issue of fees and they are now discounted heavily for good landlords.”

Discounts

If a single licence is applied for at a cost of £772 and meets the criteria for all discounts the licence fee reduces £347 for the five year licensing period, which is £69.40 per year, or  £1.33 per week

The proposed discounts for landlords on the new scheme include:

• Meeting The Blackpool Standard (£200 discount),
• Have an EPC rating of A, B or C (an additional £100),
• and a further discount for application within the first 3 months of the scheme (£125).

 Consultation into the scheme closed on January 7 with the new powers now awaiting government approval.

Landlords wishing to support the network should contact [email protected]

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