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Lancashire landlords prosecuted under scheme
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Three landlord in Lancashire have become the first to be prosecuted under the local council’s selective licensing scheme.
Alastair Buchanan MacDonald, Suzanne Smith and Brian Capstick were all fined after failing to obtain landlord licenses for their respective rental properties. Collectively, their fines totalled almost £3,000.
Selective licensing
Hyndburn Borough Council brought in selective licensing in December 2012, in an attempt to combat low housing demand and ensure landlords practice suitable property management.
The scheme permits all landlords in Church, Kirk, Peel, Springhill, West Accrington and Woodnook to apply for a licence for each rental property that they own.
Lancashire landlords prosecuted under scheme
‘These prosecutions send a clear message to all landlords with homes in the designated area, that we are taking the selective licensing scheme very seriously,’ said Councillor Clare Cleary, Hyndburn’s Cabinet Member for Housing. ‘It’s about improving the lives of tenants and improving the area and, where landlords don’t apply for a licence and fail to engage with us, it can mean facing a court summons.’[1]
‘The Private Rented Team is in the process of bringing further cases of this kind to Court. So if you are a landlord without a licence in this area, apply urgently, as these cases show, the consequences of renting a property without a licence can be extremely serious,’ Cleary added.[1]
[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/10/first-landlords-fined-under-selective-licensing-scheme
