Landlord licensing
What is Landlord licensing?
The Housing Act 2004 requires local authorities to licence privately rented dwellings in three categories:
- Mandatory licensing of houses in multiple occupation (HMO) with three or more storeys, five or more people and two or more households
- Additional licensing of HMOs excluded from the above
- Selective licensing of other private dwellings where the local authority considers it will benefit tenants and communities, in areas of low demand and/or areas with problems of anti-social behaviour
Why introduce licensing?
Licensing is being introduced to:
- Tackle the issue of anti-social behaviour - crime/vandalism
- Deal with the issue of low demand-area decline/area abandonment
- Reduce the risk of fire in a house in multiple occupation
- Support inexperienced landlords
- Engage with those landlords who's management arrangements are unsatisfactory
What are the benefits of licensing?
The benefits of licensing are:
- Reduce anti-social behaviour
- Support and training for responsible landlords
- Halt area decline
- Better housing standards for private tenants
- Benefit to wider community and business
- Long term economic benefits
To find out what effects licensing will have on you or for more information on Salford's approach to licensing, please contact the Landlord Licensing Team on 0161 793 3344 or email us at landlord.licensing@salford.gov.uk or you can visit the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) website.
This page was last updated on 23 March 2011
