Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, was recently found to have let her Dulwich home without having secured the necessary selective licence from the London Borough of Southwark. This came only a few weeks after former Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, resigned having failed to pay the correct level of stamp duty when purchasing a flat. This makes one thing is very clear, it is more important than ever to get expert advice when navigating the complex regulatory systems in UK residential property.
What licenses do you need?
Ms Reeves is certainly not alone in finding the UK residential property processes a little difficult to understand. There are 38 London boroughs and each has its own licensing scheme that imposes its own particular licensing conditions, with many operating more than one scheme.
Different rules apply for different types of letting:
•‘mandatory’ houses in multiple occupation (those with five or more occupants forming two or more households) are caught by one set of rules
•smaller HMOs (still two households but perhaps only three occupants) are caught by ‘additional’ licensing rules.
•properties that are not HMOs, but are located in zones designated by local authorities, come under ‘selective’ licensing schemes
All of this makes for a complex picture for London’s landlords.
We get it done, so you don’t have to
Foxtons property management keeps you ahead of compliance requirements:
•we uses specialist technology that tracks, on an ongoing basis, emerging licensing schemes
• our teams are trained to read, understand and explain to landlords the level of works they need to do to comply with licence conditions
•our inspection teams are training to conduct a higher level of inspections for licensed properties
•we track our 24 hour response times in resolving maintenance issues with increased vigilance for Iicensed properties. The regulatory landscape is unlikely to get simpler, any time soon and the penalties for ‘inadvertent mistakes’ are severe. Renting a property without the necessary licence is a criminal offence, punishable by a fine of up to £30K or, on prosecution, an unlimited fine. On top of that, tenants can apply for refunds of up to twelve months’ rent for the period for which the property remained unlicensed (called ‘rent repayment orders’).
So don’t trust just any agent with your property, choose the UK’s largest lettings agent* and the peace of mind in knowing that we get it done, so you don’t have to.
*TwentyCI data, 2024 new lettings instructions at an estate agent brand level
