1st
Jun 2015
The Conservatives are about to introduce a compulsory private landlord licensing scheme, in a seemingly about face by the Tories.
The Prime Minister, David Cameron recently trumpeted his ‘right to rent’ scheme’s seemingly successful pilot in the Midlands, is now to go national. In the same speech outlining the government’s rental policies, he sneaked in a couple of statements about the introduction of a mandatory licensing scheme for all private landlords.
Throughout the election campaign there was not even a hint of this type of scheme being introduced in their manifesto, up to the Conservative’s landslide victory.
David Cameron said: 'For the first time we’ve had landlords checking whether their tenants are here legally. The Liberal Democrats only wanted us to run a pilot on that one. But now we’ve got a majority, we will roll it out nationwide, and we’ll change the rules so landlords can evict illegal immigrants more quickly.'
“We’ll also crack down on the unscrupulous landlords who cram houses full of illegal migrants, by introducing a new mandatory licensing regime. And, a bit like ending jobs when visas expire, we’ll consult on cancelling tenancies automatically at the same point.”
The Prime Minister did not offer any justification for the scheme.
Richard Merrick, PIMS, said: “It was the industry’s understanding that it was only the Labour party which was going all out for the mandatory licensing of PRS landlords.
“The Tories did not make their intentions known during the election and it seems like another example of political chicanery. Councils should be given more finances to tackle rogue landlords, without the whole sector having to suffer from the actions of a few…..and of course it’s another indirect tax.”
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