There are currently six selective licensing schemes in operation in Burnley – Is your property affected by the scheme. Contact RPC to help you find out.

Private landlord fined for not properly licensing rented property in Burnley

A private landlord has been ordered to pay more than £1,000 by magistrates for failing to properly licence a rented property.

 

What is Selective Licensing in Burnley?

Selective licensing focuses on the management of private rented properties within a designated area. A designation can be made if an area is suffering from one or more of the following: low demand for housing, poor property condition, high levels of antisocial behaviour, migration, deprivation or crime. The key aim is to improve landlords’ management of properties and in doing so, help regenerate the area.

Landlords operating in selective licensing areas are required to obtain a licence for each house. Those who let their property without a licence whilst a scheme is in force are committing a criminal offence with severe penalties.

The cost for Selective Licensing is £715 for an online application, this is reduced to £640 for licence holders who have previously held a licence in Burnley. There are  also discounts available for early applications and members of the council’s Good Landlord and Agent Scheme (GLAS). The fees and discounts are the same across all of the licensing areas, however dates for eligibility do differ. Please check the Fee Structure for the relevant area to be sure you don’t miss out.

 

What is the worst that can happen?

A landlord was found to be proved (guilty) in his absence after he failed to appear at Burnley Magistrates’ Court. He was fined £660 and ordered to pay £300 costs and a £65 victim surcharge for failing to properly license a house in Evelyn Street, Burnley, he owned and rented out

The court was told that the property is in a selective licensing area. Selective licensing was introduced by the council in a number of areas in the borough to help improve management standards of rented properties within the areas. Landlords of properties within selective licensing areas have to apply for a licence from the council.
The court heard that despite numerous attempts by council officers to contact the defendant by email and letter he failed to properly apply for a licence.

Coun. John Harbour, the council’s executive member for housing and development control, said: “We want to work with private landlords to help improve standards for their tenants. In this case the landlord was given every opportunity to do the right thing, apply for a licence, and work with us but he thought he could ignore us. It’s proved to be costly for him.”

All this could have been avoided by a simple call to RPC Letting agents Burnley for advice on how to avoid this situation.