The Labour MP for Leeds West and and local Labour Councillors are reportedly calling for selective licensing to be used to improve Private Rented Sector housing standards in the Armley area of the city.

In a social media post, Cllr. Alice Smart, Labour Councillor for Armley said "Housing is one of the number one issues we deal with as councillors in Armley." and that the local party team were "campaigning for a selective landlord licensing policy which will give us more tools to crack down on rogue landlords and help private tenants".

Quoted in the Yorkshire Evening Post, Cllr. Smart said that if there were a selective licensing scheme in Armley it would "cut down on ... those rogue landlords, those difficult landlords that cause problems for their tenants. In order for them to get a licence they'll have to up their game and make sure they're following council policy and doing right by their tenants".

Whilst saying that there were plenty of good landlords in both the area of Armley and the city of Leeds generally the councillor is also quoted in the Post as saying some of the housing cases she and her colleagues dealt with involved residents seeking to get on the council house waiting list, some were to do with maintenance standards in council housing but that a lot of casework concerned private rented sector tenancies.

Her conclusion was that "As councillors, there's very little we can do because we have very little power over these landlords. If they're causing problems for tenants, there isn't much we can do, but .... speaking to council colleagues in parts of the city where they do have a selective licensing policy, ... they've been able to make real progress and improve things for those tenants who are suffering from bad landlords". There are already licensing schemes in the Beeston and Harehills areas of the city.

The reporting by the Yorkshire Evening Post points out that Labour councillors and local MP Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chancellor, are pushing for a selective licensing scheme in Armley "as soon as possible".

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