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A Landlord fights back against Licensing
Pauline Simon, a landlord in Burnley, Lancashire, says her local council is charging the area’s landlords a total of £850,000 under a licensing system.
She says the council’s justification – to help improve the standard of properties in low-demand areas of the town – falls down because there are already legal powers vested in the authority to prosecute and force essential repairs on any poorly-maintained property.
She says many of the properties owned by landlords in parts of the town are valued at only £15,000 to £35,000 and are often denied mortgages by lenders. “This [licensing] trend will almost inevitably drive prices down even further” she warns.
“Why would any prospective private owner or landlord want to consider buying in these licensing areas and incur these additional costs and risks when other areas in Burnley and particular many other towns don’t feel the need to charge these fees or see fit to punish good landlords?” she asks in a letter to her local newspaper.
