Brighton and Hove is set to roll out a new landlord licensing scheme after a four-year campaign from housing group Acorn.
The scheme aims to crack down on rogue landlords, with fines of up to £30,000 for those who break the rules.
Private landlords will need to obtain licences from the council, who will also be able to inspect properties owned by licensees and enforce improvements for habitability and safety.
A similar scheme, covering 12 wards in the city, was halted in 2018 after the government withdrew its approval following representations from landlord associations.
But campaigners are confident nothing will stop this one launching in September.
Acorn members gathered outside Hove Town Hall as councillors voted to implement the scheme yesterday afternoon.
Councillor Gill Williams, chair of the Housing and New Homes Committee, said: “Improving homes across the city is a key part of our plans for a better Brighton and Hove, and we want to make sure that all tenants in the private rented accommodation live in safe, healthy and well-managed homes.
“Private rented accommodation is an important part of the city’s housing mix and can provide people with flexible and decent homes.
“But we often hear from residents about their poor experiences and know the quality of management and maintenance is inconsistent.
“The benefits are multiple. It leads to better managed, safer and fit to occupy properties for tenants and reduces levels of deprivation for the wider community.
“It also supports our work to prevent homelessness through reducing abrupt end of tenancies through early intervention and dialogue.
“They can also benefit landlords by putting us in a better position to help them improve and maintain their properties.
“It isn’t only about dealing with problem landlords.”
The scheme, known as selective licensing, will initially cover the Kemptown, Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, Queens Park and Whitehawk and Marina wards where the council says there is evidence of poor management standards and property conditions.
Plans for expanding this scheme to 13 other wards across the city are pending approval from the Secretary of State, which will be sought six months after the launch of the initial scheme to allow time to carry out the preparation work required.
The wards proposed for the second stage of the rollout would be: Brunswick and Adelaide, Central Hove, Goldsmid, Hanover and Elm Grove, Hollingdean and Fiveways, Preston Park, Regency, Rottingdean and West Saltdean, Round Hill, South Portslade, West Hill and North Laine, Westbourne and Poets Corner and Wish.
The council says a consultation, which ran between October 2023 and January 2024, received broad agreement from residents, while landlords and agents generally disagreed.
Acorn organiser, Toby Sedgwick, said: “This is a historic victory for Acorn that will make the lives of ordinary tenants across the city easier.
“It wouldn’t have happened without the hard work of Acorn members, in the face of the previous administration’s inaction.
“We’d also like to thank Councillor Gill Williams, who has always fought beside us to make this scheme a reality.”
This is a hollow victory for Acorn as it will lead to higher rents and lower supply. That’s a problem as we all need somewhere to live!
The council has fobbed Acorn and others off for years saying that they can’t investigate and improve private housing issues as they don’t have the budget. These groups bought this excuse. Well, the council has no choice. It is a statutory service. The council has to do it – and must prioritise it over other spending (including the vanity projects). Acorn, and others, should have used their resources to ensure the council met its legal obligations, including taking legal action against it. As they haven’t, some landlords have been able to get away with providing sub-standard accommodation for years.
Now there will be a licence, paid for by landlords who will pass this cost onto tenants. That hardly makes life easier for tenants as Acorn claim
The poor landlords should now be caught which is good (assuming that all register, which has been an issue elsewhere). Poor landlords often just ignore licences and it takes years to identify/fine if at all. Assuming the poor landlords are found, what happens to their tenants? We can assume that any building defects are significant so where will the tenants go while repairs are made?
There are comments elsewhere that 15k a year is too much to pay to rent a 1 bedroom flat. I agree. But looking at from a landlord perspective, how much would a 1 bedroom flat cost to buy? (note, I’m not an expert, but looked at some calculations for friends looking to invest as a landlord). Depends on the area, but could easily be 200-300k. And when you do the maths, 15k income on 300k buy price is 5%. Take off all the costs and the landlord would be around 2-4% a year. Miss a month’s rent and it’s negative. But if you leave the money in the bank, you can get 5% or more. So why bother being a landlord? I think that’s why we’re seeing landlords sell and new ones not replace. Great if you can afford to buy, but if not terrible (and buying now costs more than renting for the first time for years)
The problem, IMHO, is that purchase prices for homes are too high. That means rental prices are too high as well. Fixing that is the key challenge as we all need somewhere to live…..
Some good points, these charges will get passed on to the tenants no doubt. Also, landlords get a bad name for being greedy which is completely unjustified. They don’t set the rent prices, the market does. If they try and rent a unit for too much the market will have it sat empty. Rent controls have never worked throughout history and very rarely has regulation been a good thing in markets. The view of ‘we must take down the greedy landlords’ is very early signs of communism judging by the history books.
Nope, because the greed of others limits one’s rent to an average of everyone else’s rent prices, and also if they attempt to go too high, and it sits empty, it’s going to be hit with a 100% increase to council tax, so it’s incentivised.
Yes Nick, this makes sense because when a house is sold by a landlord it disappears.
There are a lot of Bad Landlords, who ‘should’ be policed already with requirements to meet certain standards, which is dramatically pushing rents up. Equally there are a lot of bad tenants who are pushing rents up. When the government is pushing private landlords out and bringing in big companies that are buying up these properties then rents will increase and the renters will wish private landlords were still around. This is already the case in European markets such as Sweden and Germany. Enjoy your victory Acorn. You are doing your best to make rents even more unaffordable and house prices rise even further. Good Effort. 👍
If there were NO rental properties in Brighton then the council would have to build.
1st step towards communism, well done brighton council & acorn group.
It’s very clear you have no idea what communism actually is.
These costs will be passed onto tenants. It really is beggars belief that this legislation will do anything but move more money directly from tenants pockets to local government. They are also increasing parking charges, another scheme touted as being beneficial for locals but in fact another money generating scheme. And what do they do with this increased income? Use it to fund debt repayments on vanity projects such as the i360, a business so obviously flawed that all business pulled out and local council took a loan out to fund. Well done.
Not how that works.
So, now we will have higher costs for landlords. What will this lead to? Basically one of two things ( and probably both):
An increase in rent to cover these costs, or:
Landlords selling their properties leading to a reduction in the supply of rental properties which will also cause an increase in rents.
Did anyone apply an even vaguely competent analysis to this before implementation?
Landlords can sell up, that’s fine. That’s a good thing. Homes ideally shouldn’t be for profit. And homes don’t just disappear out of existence when a landlord sells.
But homes do disappear from the rental market when landlords sell. With property priced at a whopping 12 times local wages, there is always going to be a large contingent of people who need to rent in B&H. Fine if you want to force landlords out as homes shouldn’t be for profit, but care to tell us where / how these evicted tenants are going to be housed?
I have a few methods for increasing housing stock for rental, yes. There’s also the aspect of central government being supportive of increasing building, which has been woefully underperforming – looking forward to the new one coming in to remedy that.
Perhaps you might have a different view if you had no choice but to rent a private flat which has never been maintained or even properly converted (I have the photos to show just what people are having to live with on a day to day basis). This should have been in place years ago then we wouldn’t be in this situation. Both private rented flats I’ve had the unfortunately ‘joy’ of living in have had exactly the same issues with no where to turn for help even when managed by an Estate Agent (they just don’t care). Just pay the rent & shut up/don’t complain!!!
Colette – if you have problems with your private flat you don’t need to wait until the licencing scheme is introduced, you should contact the council now. The council has a legal duty to help. Licensing mainly adds a proactive visit in some cases once every 5 years (if like HMOs). If there are dangers or problems with your flat (eg. damp, mould, fire safety, poor electrics/gas etc etc) they should (and legally must) help. So don’t wait – contact private housing at the council now. I have in the past and they were very helpful. Yes, they are struggling with resources, but they have a legal duty to help. If they don’t complain and take advice from CAB, shelter etc.
Our current BTL mortgage is now over £200 per month more than our rental income. And that’s after our tenants offered an increase in the rent, which had previously been well below average rents, to help cover our costs. Our house is immaculate and much loved by our tenants, we maintain it properly and we have always been referred to as ‘excellent landlords’. We can ill afford to spend £200 a month on top of our own mortgage, but we’re doing it to keep our tenants in the home they love. Why then should we now pay a licence fee to the council for them to interfere with what has been a 14 year, trouble-free tenancy? Not all landlords are rogues and by adding more costs and hassle to already strapped landlords this will only drive people like us to sell up.
And nothing of value would be lost by you selling, regardless of your quality as a landlord. I really don’t think people get it…
The tenant will lose their home. I really don’t think Benjamin gets it…
Nope, you’d honour your contract, and then the tenant would move on. Meanwhile you’d have an increase in properties available. Already seeing a transition in the housing marketplace from speculation.
Have you thought about not having so many coffees? Or swapping avocados out of your diet?
It’s so sad your tenant can’t pay for your mortgage anymore.
This is probably the worst idea which is only going to lead to higher costs for everyone.
The council already have powers to deal with rouge landlords. However, most of the time they choose not to use it.
The only people benefiting here are the council, more jobs, more income etc. everyone is just going to have more headache and time delay.
Do you want to fix the City well let me tell you. It’s very simple relax planning laws, so people can build and forget all this condition discharge crap that comes with planning permissions. Let’s supply demand takeover.
Brighton and Hove have got too many listed buildings which you cannot touch without some sort of permission required. You can’t install double glazing in the majority of buildings in the city. You can’t insulate walls (listed properties) so again, I go back to relax the planning laws.
In fact, I’d go one step further, and say, scrap planning laws and watch what happens.
Everyone needs to stop thinking, landlords are enemies, make it easier to improve your properties, rather than trying to make a landlord jump through 1 million hoops to install a lightbulb.
I can think of one instance immediately that would cause a massive respiratory issue to a large section of a deprived area which already has lower health outcomes by doing this. Just based on that example alone, I’d say that’s a terrible idea.
Although in moderation, delisting certain features and buildings does make reasonable sense. Holding onto an old building design because it’s an old building design can be seen as sentimentality to the cities deficit.
Well if landlords would fix lightbulbs or anything else, then we wouldn’t be here would we?
Or how about not buying a listed building with no possibility to change it, just to try rake in profits from the rental market?
Nick, I wish it was that simple. I’ve done all of the above & more but they aren’t interested and it’s just an ongoing battle. It a joke as the Council come round to the building (apparently 9 flats are part of the HMO, I’m excluded as I’m classed as the basement flat?). I’ve been told by the Council that there is only so much they can do. The basics have been done but outside only, inside issues are bodged & that’s only when the Estate Agent can be bothered to reply. This list goes on!!! My point is that if this building had of been inspected before they rented the flats out years ago it never would have passed until it was up to standard. Years have passed & unfortunately tenants have had to leave due to the issues they have faced but nothing gets done, just a lick of paint to make it look good for the next person!!! It’s so frustrating!!!
It sounds as though you have been unfortunate. My experiences with private rented flats and flats were generally positive as has been the case with the majority of my friends. Of course there will be some rogue landlords offering properties in poor condition, but tenants have the right to decline and look elsewhere. I mean why would someone stay in a poor property beyond the term of the contract if the landlord was not interested in rectifying issues?
Has the council come and looked at your flat in isolation? (the HMO part for the rest of the building doesn’t apply, each home has to be OK and yours, it appears, is a separate home). If issues cause serious problems they should be fixed now (the licence will look for the same). The licence doesn’t check before rental as you suggest – it checks during rentals. Even when a new rental applies for a licence, they can then let out from then and the council may inspect (most councils only inspect around half) and this will happen often a year or so after the rental has begun…..
So I’m saying don’t wait for licencing. It is smoke and mirrors. If there is a problem, ensure the council sees it, record it and push them to take action. Take advice if the issue is legally required, and if it is ensure the council enforces it.
Atticus and Nick are giving you good advice here. I don’t always agree with them, but on this occasion, I believe as coherent conversation with the right people is indeed the way forward.
Council now has access to private property so it can benevolently help us. Oh dear, how terrifyingly naive we are.
Will this apply to council themselves. I have had water running down my bedroom walls for 6 years. Not dampness. Rainwater. And dampness from it So much of my clothing picture everything damaged. Every time council sends an inspector out he tells me. Yip it’s rainwater the chimney and wall needs treated. But nothing is ever fixed. It even brought the ceiling down in my daughter’s bedroom. Mears turned up put a new ceiling up but did not fix the wall so now the repair is wet. So can the council fine themselves ?
BHCC is the single biggest purchaser and provider of slum, grubby, tired, substandard accomodation in this city. “make sure that all tenants in the private rented accommodation live in safe, healthy and well-managed homes”….. Clean up your own backyard first BHCC. Bunch of myopic hypocrites.
True!
Renters Reform Bill should interest you, then.
The flat above me is rented out and unfortunately the landlord does not give his renters a fair deal.Waits three months into the rental he then puts the rent up by three hundred a month with four days notice they were caught .Answer to broken window frame in kitchen pane hanging out glued window shut.They have bought own curtains as existing ones stink of cigarette smoke previous tenants smoked continuously told not to throw the offending curtains out just stick them in a cupboard.Living room floor not covered with proper underlay and floor actually moving as floorboards in bad state.So this flat one bedroom poor state no garden is let out at £1300. per month and not all faults are listed not got time to do this.
So basically, there were preexisting issues before the tenancy, that weren’t addressed by the tenant before they moved in…that’s a you problem.
Can only be a vanity victory for Acorn. Rents WILL go up due to licensing costs being passed on and supply reducing. This is what has happened with all previous lazy government regulation is the private rented sector affecting the majority of (good) landlords instead of targeted measures to deal with bad landlords, who will evade licensing because they are inherently low on morals and legal compliance.
ACORN’s vanity wins
Council wins
Tenants lose
Bad landlords win
Good landlords lose
Rents are going to go up regardless with the broken inflation that added huge amounts to people’s mortgages. Rents always are always at the highest they can get away with, this will change nothing in relation to that. Hence rent controls.
Why do good landlords lose?
Acorn=Momentum. Same bunch.
They want fewer homes as more upset people might support them. Lots of Communists have tried this in the UK.
Who looks after Walsingham road then please then now really would like to know the flats like the house office then please
Really would like to meet the staff too
It means for certain that we will raise the rent and will probably sell here, take our money and buy something elsewhere to rent out. Only the big pension funds will be left as corporate landlords in Brighton and Hove. If anyone thinks that’s a good idea then fine, but I’m taking my small investment pot elsewhere.
Private landlords don’t care.
Maybe all the landlords complaining in the comments should think about getting a job?
In their defence, to be a proper landlord, there is work to be done. However, a lot just pass it onto an agent and it becomes passive income. Quite understandably, this is quite appealing.
Not the landlords who do nothing for a guaranteed income from someone else’s work upset they might actually have to make their property habitable and safe.
I had a landlord who regularly broke the law because he thought he was above it. Handed in my notice and took him to court, got him for nearly £20k in damages.
Community Land Trusts are a solution I’d love to see more of. As they are legally dictated to provide social rents, it’s seen as very ethical rent, and because it brings the average prices down, this has further benefits to an area’s prices.
I am a landlord in this area, I have always been responsible and kept up with flat maintenance, and kept the rent at a reasonable level for my tenants…all of whom have stayed for 3 or 4 years plus.
With this register coming in I have now decided with regret that I shall be giving them notice to quit by the summer with a view to selling the flat in the autumn.
Two other flats are rented out in the block and the landlords there are also now strongly considering doing the same.
I really understand that there are bad landlords out there, but this scheme that imposes an additional administrative burden, and penalises all landlords (and ultimately their tenants) regardless how good or bad they are is really not the way to improve things…..and it comes in the context of an increasingly hostile environment for those who do rent out property….
Like it or not, there is always going to be aa demand for properties to rent, private landlords provide a service, and this is a sector you damage at your peril.
It’s good that you take pride in your flat maintenance. The reality is many don’t. I’ve also seen several AirBnB homes pull out and switch to long-term renting fairly recently too, so I don’t foresee loss of stock from landlords pulling out.
I own and let a property in Brighton. I jumped through hoops to get an HMO (for 3 tenants) which was awarded in January 2023 . I paid in full for a 5 year.kicense for the scheme to end in february 2023.. I now believe I have to apply and probably pay again for another licence. It is no fun being a landlord and I use a good agent. The tenants want to remain I am told but I made the decision some.months ago to sell the property. For the tenants I would like it to be an investment buyer, but failing that I will sell privately. So another property out of the letting market. And I cannot afford to have it empty with B & H going to charge double council tax. I appreciate there are bad landlords that need to be dealt with. But sone of us care and take pride in our properties. I do not think this sort of decision helps us and properties will be lost to tenants.