Plans to introduce licences for all residential landlords in parts of Brighton and Hove are on course for launch this September. This comes after a four-year campaign by the grassroots and community organisation ACORN. The scheme would require that landlords apply for and adhere to the conditions of this licence. Failure to do so could incur financial ramifications totalling up to £30,000.
The licence is set to initially cost landlords £670 for five years. Costs are, however, increased should landlords fail to apply for a licence.
The scheme will first cover 2,100 properties in Kemptown, Moulsecoomb & Bevendean, Queen’s Park, and Whitehawk & Marina. This framework is set to run for six months from September and is awaiting approval from the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to expand to 9,500 properties.
Councillor Gill Williams, chairperson for the housing & new homes committee, told the BBC that the aim of the proposed scheme was to deal with landlords who “fail to manage and maintain properties.”
The Brighton branch of ACORN, a national community and renters’ union, has campaigned for this scheme for the past four years. Branch Organiser Toby Sedgwick told The Badger that “this scheme will give tenants the power to complain about poor conditions in confidence.” ACORN celebrated their victory by rallying outside of Hove Town Hall on the day of the councillor’s vote. ACORN also raised awareness of the scheme and organised collective responses to the council’s consultation in the months leading up to the vote.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, landlords appear not to share the Union’s enthusiastic opinions on these plans. A spokesperson for the National Residential Landlords Association told the BBC that such schemes “are not a targeted measure of enforcement, they simply pass the costs of regulation onto landlords, and in turn those struggling to access housing.” In response to an initial consultation on the project, two-thirds of landlords who responded opposed the plans and a previously similar scheme was prevented in 2018 following representations from landlord associations.
With warnings of higher rents from landlords and hopes of more accountability from renters, there appears to be some debate over the potential effectiveness of the proposed scheme. The results of such debate remain to be seen.
