The London Borough of Lewisham is understood to be the first council in the UK to ask the Secretary of State for permission to licence all of the privately rented properties within its boundaries.
If approved by James Brokenshire this would see the landlords of 32,000 rented properties in the borough be required to register their properties for the scheme.
The proposed Selective Licensing scheme will charge landlords between £540 and £750 per property every five years, making it the second most expensive selective licensing scheme in London after Newham.
The council already licences HMOs of certain sizes and categories but it is now proposing to licence all HMOs and also all other types of private rented property.
This, it is estimated by information service London Property Licensing, will raise an extra £9 million in revenue.
Antisocial behaviour
The council have published a 50-page document setting out its business case for licensing, including that private rented accommodation in the borough is often of a poor quality and attracts antisocial behaviour.
“In presenting their proposals, the council have given a challenging commitment to inspect every licensed property during the life of the scheme, including all rented properties occupied by a single family,” says Richard Tacagni of London Property Licensing.
“Even if inspections started on day one, this would involve inspecting over 100 properties every week throughout the five-year life of the scheme.”
The council is running a consultation on its proposals which will run until th end of August.
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