After carrying out a 3 month public consultation which received over 1000 responses, Portsmouth Council is to bring in additional licensing of smaller private rented sector HMO (houses in multiple occupation) properties with the scheme set to start on 1st September 2023.

The scheme will mean that landlords of properties with 3 or 4 occupants not of the same household will be required to apply for a licence and the council says that "Instructions for landlords on how to obtain a licence ..... will be provided in due course".

The scheme will employ a tiered fee and licence certificate structure which will benefit those landlords who the council can see are already providing good quality properties and management processes and for whom licences will last longer, cost less and their properties will be subject to fewer council inspections.

Already good landlords will get 5 year licences whereas other landlords will get 2 and a half year or 1 year licences. In these circumstances, the 5 year licence fee will cost £750 (or £2.88 per property per week) whereas a 1 year licence will cost £1,050. The council decided on the tiered system after taking in to consideration the concerns of good landlords. About 4000 properties will be covered by the new scheme.

Cllr. Jason Fazakarley, Cabinet Member for Safety in the Community, said "We are grateful to more than 1000 who responded to the public consultation, and unsurprisingly there were some strong views expressed from our city's landlords .... We've listened to their concerns particularly about the burdens that licences put on landlords who are already providing excellent homes for their tenants."

Looking for up to the minute updates on all selective licensing and PRS news? Follows us on Facebook Twitter LinkedIn