In our 24th June article, bad actors are bad for business - including in the private rented sector, we referenced a criminal case that was being heard before Canterbury Crown Court and which centred around the illegal eviction and harassment of tenants at properties in Margate.

The landlord of an unlicensed HMO in the Harrow area of London has been convicted at Willesden magistrates court of breaching a council prohibition order for the second time (he was originally prosecuted and found guilty of the same offence in 2019)

The Nottingham Central branch of letting and managing agents Belvoir (Nottingham Lettings Ltd trading as Belvoir Nottingham Central - BNC) has had their fine for breach of residential property management regulations reduced to £1,788.20 after appealing to the property tribunal.

A discount on the £500 per property selective licence fee allowing landlords to operate a private rented property in the city will terminate at the end of this month.

On Thursday 21st July a "learning event", jointly hosted by Liverpool City Council and the central primary care network, will be held at The Florrie in Dingle from 11.00 a.m. until 4.00 p.m. The primary care network is a group of 9 GP practices that work together to improve health inequalities for their patients and the event is aimed at residents, communities and partner agencies seeking to support tenants living in unacceptable conditions.

Leicester will see a new selective licensing scheme covering 3 areas of the city. The first area covers parts of Westcotes, Fosse, Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields wards. The second will cover Stoneygate and the third will cover part of Saffron ward.

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.

In our 17th June article on rental reform we wondered whether the then legislative timetable would be too short to get reform formalised into an act of parliament (scheduled for March 2023) given the domestic and global headwinds the Prime Minister's then administration would be dealing with. Well, as it turns out - if a week is (used to be) a long time in politics then 3 weeks is an aeon and the NRLA seems to agree.

At a council cabinet meeting on 6th July, Gedling borough council approved "phase 2" of their selective licence regime which extends licensing of privately rented properties to the areas of Colwick, Carlton Hill and Daybrook and Newstead Village. The phase 1 "pilot" selective licensing scheme was in the Netherfield area of the borough.

Cornerstone Chambers is running a series of free webinars covering selective licensing and aimed at local authority officers. Mandatory, additional and selective licensing are often part of local authority strategic long term planning but can also involve complex issues of law and practice especially regarding implementation and enforcement of a local authority's property licensing regime.