A Liverpool landlord (Step One (NW) Ltd) has been fined £20,000 plus £4,747.61 in costs and a £190 victim surcharge for breaches of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006. Council officers attended at the property, a large HMO housing vulnerable occupants, after an anonymous complaint.

Birmingham council has approved a selective licence scheme which will cover up to 50,000 properties across 25 wards in the city and which is set to start on 1st April 2023.

The Home Office has announced the opening of the 4th round bidding process for access to the £150 million safer streets fund. Access to this round of bidding is open to police & crime commissioners, Local Authorities, British Transport Police and "Eligible Civil Society Organisations".

Durham Council's new selective licensing scheme is due to start on April 1st and will run until 31st March 2027. Private landlords with single household properties (that don't qualify for an exemption from licensing) within certain post codes will be required to apply for a licence to operate and rent out their property otherwise they will be committing a criminal offence.

Homes for Ukraine Scheme FAQ guidance provided by the Dept for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities appears to allay concerns within the private sector landlord community that if a person in the UK sponsors and accommodates people fleeing the Russian army's invasion of Ukraine, that person could be liable for operating an unlicensed HMO.

A landlord in Haringey, north London, has been fined £5000 after receiving but ignoring repeated warnings that he was required to obtain a licence to continue operating and letting out an HMO in the borough.

In an 8th March licensing update West Lindsey District Council advises that it has halted its public consultation on the renewal and expansion of its recently ended selective licensing scheme.

On 30th March, Government will be transferring funds to Local Authorities in England so that they can begin to pay the £150 council tax rebate to help households in council tax bands A to D cope with the current rise in energy costs.

Originally scheduled for broadcast on 24th February but rescheduled for obvious reasons when Russia invaded Ukraine this episode of ITV's Tonight programme (8.30 p.m.) will see the channel's political correspondent, Daniel Hewitt, follow private rented sector specialist Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action (who estimates that residential repossession actions will reach 80,000 during 2022) through the tenant eviction process.

The Home Office has published an updated "User Guide" on how to carry out right to rent checks and what documents are acceptable.