Selective Licensing

Selective Licensing consultation

We asked you to have your say on a Selective Licensing scheme within the East Marsh area of North East Lincolnshire. Find more information and results on: Past Consultations.

If you couldn’t attend the previous online sessions for Selective Licensing, you can now view the presentations from those events.

Selective Licensing is a scheme which requires all private landlords operating within a designated area to license any privately rented property. The scheme was introduced within the Housing Act 2004 (under Part 3, Section 80).

Area of designation lasts for 5 years and will include statutory and general conditions aimed at ensuring licensed properties are safe, meet basic standards and they are managed in a satisfactory way.

To get a licence the landlord or managing agent would have to pay a fee set by us and meet certain standards which affect the way the property is managed.

Areas eligible for selective licensing must have one or more of these issues:

a low demand for houses – with few people wanting to live there
significant and persistent problems with antisocial behaviour
houses that are in a poor condition
high levels of crime
high levels of deprivation

View the Selective Licensing business case (PDF, 3MB)

We believe selective licensing would improve the management of privately rented properties and contribute positively to improving neighbourhoods.

In turn this will:

make more people want to live in the area
increase property values as the area improves
increase the demand for properties, leading to the area becoming a more attractive place to live

make people want to stay in the area for longer
reduce crime and antisocial behaviour
improve sustainability within the areas

cut the length of time houses are empty — increasing the rental income for landlords
increase the professionalism with which privately rented properties are managed

Questions about Selective Licensing

The Local Authority has to follow mandatory conditions laid down in legislation for selective licensing and cannot make improvements directly to the property as provided by case law. Brown v Hyndburn BC. It can however ensure the property is free of any hazards and the property meets the decency standards. It may also include such conditions that allow the Council to meet the objectives of the scheme.

View the Selective Licensing conditions.

No, the Borough does not have a current Selective Licensing scheme. In January 2020, the Council commenced consultation to implement a similar scheme, however this was paused due to Covid-19.

Based on other existing schemes, for example Leeds, 85% of properties licenced did not meet current legislative standards. In these cases, landlords were required to complete works to improve the property and meet their licence conditions. So yes, the scheme should see an improvement in property conditions.

Traditionally people have not come forward to seek help with their properties and there has been a lack of action by some landlords and managing agents to repair their homes. By getting into licensed homes, we have been able to address poor housing conditions and landlords who have failed to provide good accommodation and support the wider needs of people we have visited.

As part of a proposed partnership approach to address issues in the area. Landlord will be required to request references. If the tenant has a poor reference, support can be provided to ensure properties are let and families are not at risk of homelessness by the scheme. This could include housing related support, to help families with complex issues to pay rent, pay bills and also maintain a home.