Manchester council has announced that, whilst there are 7 currently operating property licensing schemes in Manchester, a public consultation will start on a further 8 new selective licensing schemes in the city comprising a total of 1,884 privately rented properties.

If approved following the public consultation, the new schemes are likely to come into effect in spring 2023 and the council is using the outcomes from the recently ended selective licence scheme in the Crumpsall area of the city to inform their proposal for the 8 new schemes.

The council's view is that the Crumpsall selective licensing scheme, where 372 properties were licensed, has had "a positive impact". 177 properties were inspected of which 18% were found to contain serious hazards. Council officers worked with landlords to ensure improvements were carried out to resolve these issues.

Over the course of the scheme 20 improvement notices were served along with 2 prohibition notices and 2 suspended improvement notices (preventing the properties from being used until improvements were carried out). In addition, 6 civil penalty notices were served amounting to a total of £36,000 in fines for non compliance with licence conditions.

The council also took action in relation to "statutory nuisance" problems serving 8 enforcement notices.