An expected expansion in selective licensing schemes next year may fill council coffers but won’t improve housing standards, a leading landlord figure has claimed.

Phil Turtle (pictured, below) says the UK needs less licensing not more and has railed against the Government’s decision to allow local authorities to bring in larger schemes without Whitehall oversight.

Until now, the Secretary of State’s permission was needed for schemes if they covered more than 20% of a council’s geographic area or affected more than 20% of privately rented homes in the area.

Turtle, who runs consultancy Landlord Licensing & Defence, also says the consultations councils must complete before licensing is introduced are box ticking exercises not real attempts to garner local opinions about housing conditions, a process he calls 'meaningless’ and ‘rigged’.

“The recent selective licensing ‘consultation’ by Leeds City Council was one of the worst examples with leading consultation questions this firm has ever seen,” he says.

"So, far from the private rented sector heading towards the national landlord database as a simple and workable alternative to selective licensing, we now are on the starting blocks for every council to require every rental property to be licensed under what will become 340-odd councils with 300-odd different licensing schemes.

Boost revenue

Turtle says many councils will use their new powers to introduce a scheme to boost revenue collection from licence fees and fines which all landlords and, ultimately, tenants, must pay.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook recently told MPs that the decision to give councils more power over where and when licensing schemes are introduced was part of his Government drive to devolved power to the regions and that safeguards would be put in place.