On 26th September we posted about new selective licensing schemes going live in Leicester and the London Borough of Greenwich.

The selective licence scheme in Greenwich went live on 1st October so technically, any landlord who has not already applied for a licence is committing an offence but it has been pointed out that the licence application system only went live "just a few days before the scheme started" thus making it difficult for many landlords to apply for licences before the go live date of the scheme. In addition, though Greenwich council have said they will not take enforcement action relation to landlords who haven't applied within the first 6 months of the scheme it nevertheless has opened a loophole as far as rent repayment orders are concerned. Under the 2004 Housing Act section 40 the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) can make a rent repayment order where certain housing offences have been committed. Included in the list of offences is operating an unlicensed house under section 95(1) of the Act.

Thus, in Greenwich, technically, a landlord is at risk of having to repay rent paid from 1st October to the date an licence application is made.

The situation is, potentially, further complicated by the fact that Greenwich's additional licensing scheme for smaller HMOs has just come to an end. The Council is reportedly looking to set up a new additional licensing scheme in 2023 but in the meantime, any licensable property not subject to mandatory HMO licensing but which would have been subject to additional licensing will now need to be covered by a selective licence unless they have an additional licence that is, on its face, not due to expire until next year. Some landlords may well be caught out by this.

Full information and the ability to make an application can be found here on Greenwich council's website.