What can only be described as a major U-turn, a local authority has put on hold a consultation for a proposed selective licensing scheme after being inundated with criticisms of their scheme.

Owen Brierley, the leader of West Lindsey council, has just released a statement saying:

“Following a full council meeting … councillors voted in favour of halting the selective licensing consultation at this time, to allow for further considerations to be made into both the scheme and the consultation.

“We are extremely grateful for all those who have submitted feedback into the consultation process up until this point and we will of course communicate and advise on next steps for any future proposal in due course.”

Brierley also stated that the authority’s next steps for the licensing scheme will not be considered until early May in a committee meeting.

The consultation has just been stopped dead in its tracks as it was originally planned for a 12 week online consultation starting January and should have been kept open until the second half of April.

The council’s decided to put a hold on the consultation after receiving numerous criticisms from landlords as well as a new report which told the authority: “The selective licensing scheme can improve the quality of accommodation however, it has had limited success in many other areas such as anti-social behaviour, community safety and crime levels. It is therefore essential before we extend the selective licensing scheme we gain a far better understanding of how many of these other issues can be addressed.”

The authority had previously introduced a licensing scheme which was limited to a small part of one ward. It was chosen because of major problems with anti-social behaviour and sub property conditions, however the council had big plans to expand licensing across more wards.

In January a council spokesman said: “We are doing everything possible to make sure that private renting offers the highest possible standards of security, safety and quality. Our previous Selective Licensing scheme addressed more than 4,000 hazards in homes…but there is still more to do. We are now looking to take this further with proposals for new Selective Licensing schemes covering a larger area of the district.