Telford landlord licence plan consultation delayed until after election
Consultations on a proposed new scheme to impose a new licence on landlords will be put back until after the General Election – it has been revealed.
A consultation exercise on the possibility of forcing private landlords in Telford & Wrekin to have licences was due to start in mid-April.
It has now been postponed until June 12.
At a meeting of the Telford & Wrekin Cabinet, councillors voted to go ahead with the consultation which could see landlords having to pay £610 for a five-year licence, in a bid to raise the standards of privately rented properties and improve conditions for tenants.
The consultation has now been put back because of so-called purdah restrictions which limit councils' activities in the run-up to elections.
The scheme is aimed at improving housing standards in privately rented homes and reduce associated littering, fly-tipping, crime and anti-social behaviour.
The consultation is now planned to begin after the election on June 12 and will run for 10 weeks.
A spokesman for the scheme said the proposed five-year selective licensing scheme would help landlords and letting agents in Hadley and Leegomery, Malinslee and Hollinswood, Brookside and Sutton Hill and Woodside "improve their properties and improve the quality of life".
These areas have been chosen because evidence shows that they have higher rates of housing disrepair, a higher turnover of tenants, littering, fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour than other areas.
Depending on the outcome of the consultation, the scheme could go live in November.
But Bernie Lewis, chairman of the Wrekin Landlords Association, said the scheme would blight areas and make the current housing crisis even worse.
Similar schemes have been successfully introduced in places like Wolverhampton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Peterborough, Salford, Scarborough, Harlow and Coventry.
The licence would cost a landlord £122 a year, or £172 for late applications, for the whole five years. Landlords will be required to comply with a set of license conditions.
A landlord found guilty of not complying with licence conditions can be fined up to £5,000 per offence. Failure to license the property in the first place could lead to a £20,000 fine.
